The facts are:-"our" miners are not really ours....they are...

The facts are:
-"our" miners are not really ours....they are virtually all foreign owned
-while our balance of trade is positive, the benefits are narrowly distributed with most of the profits going overseas.
-multinationals aggressively "minimise" their tax payments while some evade tax

And your assertion that auto manufacturing isn't the centre of the universe;
it certainly featured highly in the rise of economies such asThe USA, Germany, Japan,
S/Korea & now China. with annual production numbers increasing.

But of course if you are a futurist and can see the demise of the motor car, then others
may see the demise of our mining (our laying hen) whetherr that being no global demand
or like Birdshit Island......a load of holes in the ground

but as the say in farming circles 'make hay while the sun shines" and at present
the sun is certainly shining on auto manufacturing (just ask China...eh?)