"Are the miners paid the same as in Australia? Do the companies pay superannuation for these employees? Are the minesites remote?

"...our isolation and sheer distance from our customers,
our wages and over all IR conditions and restraints."

Some companies have been taxed on super profits so, with your list of parameters deducted before super-tax. No super-profit no MRRT.

"...labor's gross incompetence and total miss management of the economy."

Many things you'd highlight as complete disasters were only so at the margins. For example, 5% of the money going into school halls was squandered, but my local primary school now has a wonderful facility organized by a school council with savvy. The insulation scheme worked well, my folks got a nice job done, except that some consumers paid for poor work (their own stupid fault) and some installers with dollar signs in their eyes put workers into lethal situations, which happens everyday in Australia (eg. mining, and construction, but the Coalition goes very quietly on those). State consumer and industrial safety laws address these matters. All we heard were hysterical, sensational headline on these and other programs, but its how we kept everyone employed in Australia through a huge contraction in the world economy that's still contracting against Treasury forecasts, leading to cost-cutting and a deficit.

Sure, there are stupid ideas like cash for clunkers that never flew, and I'm not too big on the idea of large companies wasting money on "Buy Australian" officers(although I would like some action on buying locally and contribution to training/employing apprentices). These, however, are not the things that are killing our bottom line, and the same crap happens in all parties (who sent us into Iraq and gave us middle-class welfare?)

Rehctub, I hate Gov't waste and mismanagement as much as anybody, but I'm not partisan about it. Take Rudd's advice and have an ice-bath, wait like everyone for September, and accept the will of the people, even a split parliament. Just stop carping, carping, carping and grow another eye.