If the mining boom is Australia's economic salvation, as we were told in last night's federal budget, why are WA and Queensland doing all the heavy lifting?
If the mining boom is Australia's economic salvation, as we were told in last night's federal budget, why are WA and Queensland doing all the heavy lifting?
The quick answer from the people who currently run the Australian Government is because that's where the resources are. WA, Queensland, aided by the Northern Territory and South Australia are the so-called "resource rich states".
The problem with that commonly held view in Canberra, Sydney and Melbourne is that it is wrong.
Resource rich is a term which applies to all of Australia with the only difference between the states being that some have chosen to use their resources, and others have chosen to lock them up.
What really needs to happen for Australia to maximise its potential is for all the states to embrace resource development so that one part of the economy is not bludging off the other part.
A human parallel is to be found in the tougher rules proposed in the budget for social welfare recipients. Rather than receiving a weekly hand-out courtesy of everyone working for a living and paying tax those attached to the public purse will be forced to try harder to get a job.
If that approach is good enough for people, it's good enough for the country.
Consider a few simple examples. Victoria is sitting on some of the world's best gold deposits, something every geologist has known for the past 150 years from the time of the Ballarat and Bendigo gold rushes.
But, rather than encourage exploration and development of its gold assets, and other mineral assets, all Victorian governments for the past 50 years have embraced manufacturing as the only preferred industry, while making it ever harder for miners.
The worm, largely in the form of the soaring value of the Australian dollar has ended that game, for now. Manufacturing is on its knees, and will be on its back within a year or so as demand for resources drives the dollar higher - and that's before factories in Melbourne are killed by the threatened carbon tax which will push electricity prices through the roof.
New South Wales has had a similar pro-manufacturing and anti-mining approach for a few decades with a similar outcome largely thanks to the rise of "green" politics which has locked up large parts of the state and made life very difficult for miners.
If there is an example for how a state can turn itself around it is South Australia which, for 20 years, imagined that it could develop an economy based on restaurants, wineries and lifestyle - until it woke up one day and found what a silly idea that was.
One man, former Normandy Mining boss, Rob de Crespigny, did more than anyone else to explain that mining was a natural part of the Australian economy, and that to leave it off the state development agenda meant missing the opportunity of a generation.
SA today is fast-tracking behind WA and Queensland, and starting to pull its weight in the federation - while also becoming somewhat annoyed at its anti-mining cousins across its eastern border.
To be fair to the Australian Government the question of mining, especially land access, is one for the states as they control most matters relating to land use and transport.
But, after recognising that point there is pressure that the national government can bring to bear on states which refuse to do all that they can to maximise the development of their natural times at a time when the world wants to buy them, and is prepared to pay huge prices.
That's why talk of Australia having some "resource rich" states, and others which are not resource rich is utterly ridiculous.
What we actually have is some states which choose to use their resources to maximise the wealth of their residents, and states which choose to not use their resources, hoping to live off the work being done elsewhere.
The expression dole bludger has been around for years. What Australia has done is take the bludging role to a new level with entire states in the hand-out queue.
