A decade of strong mining revenue growth has seen workers disproportionately located in the “mining states” of Queensland and Western Australia. With mining investment now waning, workers drawn by in the…
The Pilbara has had a remarkable boom in recent years, but with the current slowdown comes questions about its long-term future. The need to diversify the local economy is obvious, but how do you do this…
One of biggest issues to be addressed in tomorrow’s WA Senate poll - and perhaps one of the most complex, too - is how best to maintain the state’s growth trajectory through the forthcoming period of transition…
Declining commodity prices and high production costs are hampering investment in the mining industry, with new figures revealing big decreases in planned projects. The value of projects in the “publicly…
2013 hasn’t been a good year for Western Australian premier Colin Barnett. Standard and Poor’s recent downgrade of his government’s credit rating continues a pattern. It is not an aberration. Barnett’s…
In an unusual move, Mission Australia and the Business Council of Australia recently co-authored a piece calling for a mature and open conversation about tax reform. They join a chorus of voices, from…
The Sydney Morning Herald recently reported that information technology and biotech entrepreneurs are beginning to displace mining magnates at the top of the nation’s rich lists. Out goes resources tycoon…
Election 2013 Essays: As the federal election campaign draws to a close, The Conversation asked eminent thinkers to reflect on the state of the nation and the challenges Australia – and whichever party…
Welcome to the The Conversation’s Election 2013 State of the Nation essays. These articles by leading experts in their field provide an in-depth look at the key policy challenges affecting Australia as…
Where will jobs and growth come from after the mining boom? This is the fundamental question facing the next Australian government, whose success will depend to a great extent on how it addresses this…
Welcome to the **The Conversation Election 2013 State of the Nation* essays. These articles by leading experts in their field provide an in-depth look at the key policy challenges affecting Australia as…
The term of the new Australian government – whether finally led by Kevin Rudd, Tony Abbott or Malcolm Turnbull – will be shaped by one dominant economic reality: the end of the mining boom. The immediate…
“Just to get the regulatory approvals [to start a mine] takes more than three years. Six years ago it took less than 12 months… Australian investors are fleeing this country to invest in more stable countries…
No sooner had Treasurer Wayne Swan accused the Europeans of “mindless austerity” a month ago than he embarked on a resolute but most likely counter-productive search for cost savings in the coming May…
The last two years for Victorians and the Baillieu government have been challenging, with a flat economy and tight budget constraints. The next few years for the Napthine government are likely to involve…
The board of BHP Billiton Limited today announced the retirement of chief executive officer and inside director Marius Kloppers. Dr Kloppers is a 20-year veteran of the company, serving 12 years as a senior…
Various explanations have been offered for Prime Minister Julia Gillard’s decision to announce the date of the 2013 federal election almost eight months in advance. Most commentators, both those who applaud…
Different year, same crisis. Around this time last year, the United States was looking down the barrel of economic disaster with the debt ceiling. As we approach 2013, it peers over the fiscal cliff. That…
Governments are forever immersed in the daily challenge of responding to what the former British Prime Minister Harold Macmillan once knowingly described as “events.” It was he who coined the resounding…
It seems no-one is quite sure what to think of the resource boom anymore. Long considered the factor that saved Australia from the GFC, the suspension, delay or scaling back of a number of mining projects…