I almost chocked on my lunch today when I heard Julia Gillards response to the scrapping of the massive Woodside project in WA.

She said, and I quote, " we are not worried, as mining is only one of the many diverse sectors we have in this great nation".

So please enlighten me Julia, where are these booming sectors.

It's not retail.

It's not manufacturing.

It's not tourism.

So just what is it!

Good question Rechtub, as this graph from the Catallaxy blog shows http://catallaxyfiles.com/files/2013/04/Leigh-Biz-investment-2.jpg.

Business investment in the rest of the economy is in the worst shape it has been since the early 90s.

Dear rehctub,

I don't understand what you're complaining about.
Why are you blaming the PM for a company's
decision?

As Woodside Petroleum says - "A major review of
the project found it would not deliver the
returns needed." The Company scrapped the project
because it was not commercially viable. And its
shares have soared in the meantime.

The Prime Minister says that the company's decision
to shelve the massive project does not relate to
federal or state regulatory issues. It's the company's
decision and as the PM said, "It's an issue for the
company. So it's for them to deal with."

http://www.theaustralian.com.au/news/woodside-will-not-go-ahead-with-Ing-processing-plant-at-james-price-point/story-e6frg6n6-1226618536271

Lexi my sweet I think he is complaining to her reaction to the announcement, rather than blaming her.

However I'm not so kind, so I'll blame her. She should have got off her bum & facilitated the establishment on the facility, particularly as her spending spree requires every cent of export earnings possible.

The government could have secured clearance of the site, rather than let the ratbag fringe greens cause huge delays & cost overruns.

Yes Lexi, as Hasbeen says, I'm not so much on about Julia causing the withdrawal, as in the way she reacted, as if it's no big deal.

So perhaps you had best stop seeing my postsbas a red flag, and actually read what I have said.

Now as far as it being Julias fault, well, I'm with Hasbeen on that one, however, it's more her inaction that has caused the problem, not her actions.

I'm guessing she must have resigned herself to the fact that's she's gone, and doesn't really care, as despite the mess she has helped cause, she will be sitting pretty on her $100K+ per year FOR LIFE, courtiousy of us, the good old Aussie tax payers.

But I guess, at the end of the day, $100K per year is a cheap price to pay to get rid of her.

So perhaps Lexi, with you being one of her most loyal fans, you can enlighten us and tell us where the sectors are that going to prop us up, other than the UNIMPORTANT mining industry.

Yes Graham, I commenced my first business in 89, and I think this situation is actually worse, as our personal debt is huge in comparison, and our expectations from employers are fast becoming unrealistic, however many can't read between the lines.

And now the government has all but guaranteed that Adam Bandt will retain his seat, by kicking uni students in the nuts. And that their 'natural' constituents, those aspirationals and their parents, will be outraged.

So let's see, says Julia and Emmo &c, who can we alienate next ?

Is this bunch on a death wish, or what ?

No, I don't think I will ever see another Labor government in my lifetime, once we have had the chance to turf this lot out.

And no, I'm not happy about that, Lexi :(

Cheers,

Joe

No one has mentioned that Woodside has not scrapped mining for gas, it is now to build an offshore processing plant instead of the land based site and use a whole new technology. That means the local environment is saved by scrapping the onshore development.

Josephus have you ever been in the area? If so how on earth could you say anything had been saved? There is so much of that garbage coast that a few hundreds of square kilometers would be no loss to anybody.

What it means is that a few ratbag greenies, & some rapacious aboriginals have cost the country heaps. Off shore processing will mean no jobs, no infrastructure & no availability of gas for local use.

The Kimberley is as big as Victoria - surely there is space in that quarter of a million sq. km. to build such a plant ?

Slightly off-topic, but relevant to writing off sections of our economy and society, Wayne Swan said on the weekend,

" .... sustained disadvantage all too easily follows a student after school, which is illustrated by the fact that only 17 per cent of new higher education students in 2011 were from the lowest socioeconomic quartile – and only 1.1 per cent were Indigenous.

"Now of course, not everyone wants a higher education experience, and this isn't the only measure of success, but nobody should be denied the opportunity on the basis of their social or economic background."

Apart from the dishonesty of that figure for Indigenous uni students - 1.1% of ALL students, yes, but 1.6 % of Australian students - I was struck by that 'not everyone wants a higher education experience, etc... "

especially as it may apply to Indigenous students - on the face of it, yes, it may be correct, but in my experience, precisely that rationale has been used to discourage Indigenous people from attempting higher education.

It usually translates to mean, "I think that hardly any Indigenous students really can benefit from higher education, they should know their place which is TAFE, unskilled work and lifelong welfare."

Not that that racist philosophy is working - Indigenous enrolments have been hitting new records every year since 2005 and are now about 60 % above 2005 levels, and climbing. The equivalent of about 35-40 % of a young Indigenous adult-age-group is commencing study for the first time each year now.

In fact, the relative proportion of commencements is useful as a rough measure of the aspirations of the growing Indigenous middle-class. A higher proportion of Indigenous women commence uni study than non-Indigenous Australian men.

The horse has bolted, the gates are wide open. Indigenous people are achieving in spite of so many of their 'leaders'.

Joe

rehctub..............time to revert rehctub gnals to cause some confusion

Lexi,

While most of what you say is correct, that was not the point that Butch or GY were making. The comment by Juliar that "mining is only one of the many diverse sectors we have" is the problem.

The last 12 months have seen a noticeable drop off in mining investment, whilst the rest of the economy has been shedding investment since 2008.

That graph that was linked is frightening if mining cuts back.
In effect we would not have anything, just taking others washing.

The jobs will go because the floating CNG plants will have Phillipino
or Indian crews, they certainly won't have Australian crews because
the ships will be registered elsewhere.

Dear rehctub,

Lets set the record straight here.

In your opening post you clearly stated:

"I almost chocked on my lunch today when I heard
Julia Gillard's response to the scrapping of the
massive Woodside Project in WA..."

You left out what she said regarding
that project, which was:

"It's the company's decision. It's an issue for the
company. So It's for them to deal with."

As for mining investment? The following link may
help:

http://www.crikey.com.au/2013/04/08/australia-still-officially-the-safest-place-for-mining-investment-in-the-world/?wpmp_switcher=mobile

cont'd ...

Just to set another records straight.
I am not a supporter of Julia Gillard.
What I do support is getting facts
straight. And the Coalition has been
supremely lacking in that department.
Thus it may seem like I am supporting
the PM - I'm simply standing up to
misinformation, inane slogans, spin
and rhetoric. But hey - why should
that stop you.

Dear Grahamy,

To me that graphic clearly illustrates just how much the mining boom has kicked manufacturing in the guts. Not only stripping skilled trades people from the manufacturing sector but also forcing the Aussie dollar into heights that make the business of exporting manufactured goods problematic.

I hear tonight that our bio-medical export industry is now our largest earner for manufactured exports. Both Howard and Prime Minister Gillard are responsible for promoting this 'knowledge' field. Kudos to both.

But for traditional manufacturing such as motor vehicles why on earth would an investor put money into these when the dollar remains at these levels? Any canny type would head straight for the hole in the ground industries. This is why I am so disappointed in the mining tax because it should have taken some heat out of the sector and helped our manufacturers.

Friends nothing is new under the sun.
Not that many years ago, well a grown lady billionaire was a girl flown to Perth for private schooling so I suppose it was a while ago.
Anyway her father Lang Hancock found a mountain of Iron and a vision grew in his mind.
Build a rail link from the mines in the west to the Gulf of Carpentaria. Build smelters and produce steel using the shipped in Iron ore.
Then build ship building and repair yards and a massive export port to cater for the growing South East Basin sea traffic.
But the governments of the day balked at such an outlandish project so it never happened and Lang went to the Japs for partnership.
Think of what we lost and picture that project today with lines coming in from all the mines and the product being shipped out.
GOVERNMENTS JUST GET IN THE WAY.
Good on you Gina you grew to be a big girl
The Pilot