Sure Ok-Tedi and BP have a lot to answer for but a stamp on standards by responsible admin would fix that. As far as Fels (that drongo) and Henry (whom I am sure could not lie straight in bed) are concerned, we cannot bank on them. Keynes is far more palatable as his views are what I refer to that were taken up when he was just a glint in his fathers eyes when our Gov't used its stimulus package to build the Great Ocean road. Instead of now giving it to white goods manufacturing countries like China who used it to build Infrastructure assets.
We have the resources for sure, with which we can win the first battle, we have nothing else at the moment that we are allowed to use by the greenies, sorry misplaced communists. Tax the miners out of production they leave, simple. Site reparation or not.
Once the first battle is finished then we can sweep aside the halfwits and use our green power advantage, yes that's right our 40,000 years worldwide reserve of Uranium. Of course Canada and South Africa have large reserves too, but do we need to play second fiddle to them, No Sir. So keep the miners here where we can prosper in the future.
I have more serious issues with the rape and pillage of our fertile Queensland and Northern NSW hinterlands which are being used for the settling of southern migrants. Before long they will be wondering why we have to import food as they live on where before the stuff was grown. I also have a problem with us growing cotton, what waste of good pastoral land, the Murray needs to be run again and animal protein or wool should be our staple export not cotton or coal as you say.
It's a bit like climbing over a hill in the helicopter, use the power of the collective and stay up, utilise a bit of inertia with the cyclic and wallow into the scrub at the top.
RD