Influenza and the Mining Tax
June 7th 2010 22:26
I have the flu this week; not a bad dose but enough to keep me in bed for one day and give me time to contemplate things like the proposed "mining tax" causing such a fuss in Australia now!
I seemed to be unable to move past several factors. All are observations made by a family living in an area closely linked to mining, as a port, and with several mining projects in close proximity to us, including the BHP Biliton.Ravensthorpe nickel mine at Jerdacuttup, just 40km away. It was the focus of national attention last year when, less than a year after opening the mine, it was closed, leaving behind a train wreck of shattered dreams and people now very cautious about mining companies and promises of 25 years of mine life, boundless wealth and unlimited opportunities.
Not only were we exposed to the brutal "we can afford to write off that much money, sorry about the plans and dreams of people who had built new lives in Hopetoun" boom and bust mentality of mining companies and their well paid executives, but we witnessed the before and after impacts of the mine life on our community. Sure, there were benefits; community grants for sporting projects, improved roads where the mine needed them....but there were problems.
Overuse of the local doctor to the point where he left town, only to return after the mine closed, exposure to the wasteful mentality of big companies (pits full of office equipment bulldozed in to the ground after closure)...lots of little niggling things! A community liaison committee that was reluctant to tackle real issues like contamination of groundwater, preferring to focus on availability of community grants etc etc.
As a rural community, farmers were affected by competition for people capable of carrying out farm work like seeding and harvest; the same sort of skilled people mining companies were paying high wages to.
As a parent, I see that mining devalues education because people with limited academic experience can earn huge salaries, even in spin-off industries where plumbers and builders are the new rich!
We saw an increase in housing and land prices to a ridiculous level that was unsustainable in the bust that followed, and broken homes that resulted in fathers (or mothers!) being away at the mines earning money for the no-longer existing family.
We saw a growth in unrealistic expectations from children spoilt rotten in the absence of their fathers and in the presence of big money; $20,000 ponies prancing around pony club, all with no regard to the sustainability of the whole process.
We saw bullying, by the State Government and mining companies, of our local port authority, determined to set high safety standards after accidentally contaminating the town with lead......
And we are supposed to feel sorry for the mining companies?????
I seemed to be unable to move past several factors. All are observations made by a family living in an area closely linked to mining, as a port, and with several mining projects in close proximity to us, including the BHP Biliton.Ravensthorpe nickel mine at Jerdacuttup, just 40km away. It was the focus of national attention last year when, less than a year after opening the mine, it was closed, leaving behind a train wreck of shattered dreams and people now very cautious about mining companies and promises of 25 years of mine life, boundless wealth and unlimited opportunities.
Not only were we exposed to the brutal "we can afford to write off that much money, sorry about the plans and dreams of people who had built new lives in Hopetoun" boom and bust mentality of mining companies and their well paid executives, but we witnessed the before and after impacts of the mine life on our community. Sure, there were benefits; community grants for sporting projects, improved roads where the mine needed them....but there were problems.
Overuse of the local doctor to the point where he left town, only to return after the mine closed, exposure to the wasteful mentality of big companies (pits full of office equipment bulldozed in to the ground after closure)...lots of little niggling things! A community liaison committee that was reluctant to tackle real issues like contamination of groundwater, preferring to focus on availability of community grants etc etc.
As a rural community, farmers were affected by competition for people capable of carrying out farm work like seeding and harvest; the same sort of skilled people mining companies were paying high wages to.
As a parent, I see that mining devalues education because people with limited academic experience can earn huge salaries, even in spin-off industries where plumbers and builders are the new rich!
We saw an increase in housing and land prices to a ridiculous level that was unsustainable in the bust that followed, and broken homes that resulted in fathers (or mothers!) being away at the mines earning money for the no-longer existing family.
We saw a growth in unrealistic expectations from children spoilt rotten in the absence of their fathers and in the presence of big money; $20,000 ponies prancing around pony club, all with no regard to the sustainability of the whole process.
We saw bullying, by the State Government and mining companies, of our local port authority, determined to set high safety standards after accidentally contaminating the town with lead......
And we are supposed to feel sorry for the mining companies?????
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