Mining boom biggest since 1850s Gold Rush: Swan October
12, 2010 - 9:49AM
"Australia needs capital to support its biggest mining expansion in more than 150 years, while other countries grapple with unemployment, debt and sluggish growth," Treasurer Wayne Swan said.
"Australia is about to embark on its biggest mining investment boom since the 1850s Gold Rush,'" Mr Swan said in the prepared text of a speech today at the New York Stock Exchange. '"This pushes us to pick up the pace of reform, to make Australia an even more attractive investment destination."
The Australian Bureau of Agricultural and Resource Economics estimates the current pipeline of resource projects in Australia at nearly $360 billion on sustained demand from China and India for resources from the world's biggest exporter of iron ore and coal.
Mining-investment plans are up almost 50 per cent, or five times more than levels six years ago, Mr Swan said. A government report October 7 showed employment gained in September for a seventh straight month as mining propelled an economy with an unemployment rate about half the levels in Europe and the US.
Australian Prime Minister Julia Gillard's minority Labor government plans to cut the company tax rate to 29 per cent from 30 per cent and build roads, rail and ports to support growth, funded by a mining levy from 2012 that is yet to be legislated.
Unbelievable, after causing Overseas investors to second guess their investment decisions in Australia with the mining tax grab, now Swanny is right in behind mining as the saviour of Australia again, this guy makes my skin crawl.
