Defend Industry, Miners Told
The Age
Thursday April 1, 1993
Australia's mining industry needed to defend itself more vigorously against concerns raised by Aboriginal and environmental groups, according to the leading academic, Professor Geoffrey Blainey.
Professor Blainey told the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy's centenary conference in Adelaide yesterday that it was time the mining industry put more effort into promoting the benefits it produced for Australians.
He said the increasing number of calls from environmental and Aboriginal groups to limit mining in Australia did not consider the vital role mining played in Australia's economy.
``There has been an astonishing change in public opinion towards the mining industry in past years," Professor Blainey said. ``If the anti-mining groups succeed in their endeavors to stop mining, all they will do is lower the standard of living for all Australians, including the Aborigines, and an extensive crusade against mining will just plunge Australia deeper into debt.
``In the early days of mining the founders of the industry didn't have to defend the industry, but its need to defend itself now is much greater than before." Professor Blainey said the mining industry could suffer a fate similar to that suffered by the Liberal Party at last month's federal poll if it failed to effectively promote the value of its product.
``We saw recently at the federal election what can happen if you are unable to sell your message to the community," he said. ``Mining is more complex than the GST but its value is much greater to the nation." He said people who believed the mining industry did little to foster ingenuity in industry overlooked the fact that mining's success depended on a vast range of skills which fitted in with Australia's push to become ``the clever country".
``The popular picture of mining as simply digging a hole in the ground and sending away the material is a sign that most Australians have never seen a mine and know nothing about the steps and processes of mining.
``The Australian mining industry has produced losses as well as gains, disadvantages for the nation as well as advantages, but all in all, no advanced nation has probably gained more than Australia from its mining industry." AAP
© 1993 The Age
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