No myth.Downer, ODG, Leightons, FMG, Rio, BHP (the list goes...

No myth.
Downer, ODG, Leightons, FMG, Rio, BHP (the list goes on...) have been steadily paring back their workforces with redundancies, which are still ongoing. (source - industry contacts, and before you ask I am not comfortable in disclosing these on a public forum.)
The word going round is that projects are being shelved until after the federal election and that they will be resurrected in due course. There are a couple of reasons or this, number 1 reason being certainty of economic climate. It is expected that there will be a number of big changes in the Australian economic and political environment and the big coy's need to have certainty before they can plan their next moves.
A second opinion (and I don't know about this one but I'll throw it out there anyway) is that the big miners are peeling back their spend to teach the Labor govt a lesson.

I believe that we have not yet seen the worst of the downturn, but I also believe that things will get better in the coming years. Chin up.