Almost a third of Western Australian families say their household finances are at least partly reliant on the mining industry, highlighting the potential threat posed by policies that undermine the resources sector.
CCIWA’s Consumer Confidence survey of 848 WA households for the December quarter found 31% of respondents said their household income was “directly reliant” or “indirectly reliant” on the resources sector.
The figures come amid growing calls for the Federal Government to dramatically rewrite its controversial environmental approval reforms, due to their likely impact on WA’s mining industry.
There are also fears increased union influence in the mining sector as a result of the Federal Government’s industrial Relations changes could create instability and deter investment in the sector.
CCIWA Chief Economist, Aaron Morey, said the results put a spotlight on what is at stake.
“The fact that 31% of households we surveyed say their finances are reliant in some way on mining shows the wide-reaching impact of the sector in WA,” he said.
“These people may not be directly employed by a mining company. They could work for a small business, or a sector involved in the mining supply chain.
“The resources industry is not an abstract economic concept for West Australian families and the flow-on impacts of undermining the sector would be a direct hit on household budgets.”
Higher income households were also more likely to be reliant on mining, with 59% of households earning over $186,000 a year reporting a reliance – highlighting the well-paid jobs provided by the sector.
Mr Morey said any policy that threatens to undermine the strength of WA’s mining sector could have a devastating impact on households and the broader economy.
“Every West Australian knows our state’s economic fortunes lie in mining and resources,” he said.
“Any attempt to undermine that should be deeply concerning to all of us.”
The Nature Positive package of Bills, which remains on the Government’s parliamentary agenda despite the collapse of a deal with the Greens to get it through the Senate last month, seeks to establish a Canberra-based agency that could block approvals for any major project.
This would include economy-shaping projects in mining, housing, clean energy, public infrastructure and more.
Mr Morey said unlike existing state-based regulators, the new agency would not need to consider social or economic factors in its decision-making.
“It is simply unthinkable that an agency that wields the power to block major projects would not look at the wider context in terms of job creation, economic contribution and social need,” he said.
“The delay and uncertainty created by this unaccountable Canberra bureaucracy could spell death for some major projects, particularly those in mining which are subject to price volatility and growing competition from emerging global markets.”
Radical changes to collective bargaining laws, which came into effect in 2023, will allow unions to force mining companies to negotiate with them, regardless of whether workers support the union position.
“Unions have had minimal influence in WA’s for the past two decades, and over that time workers in the Pilbara have been among the safest and best-paid in the world,” Mr Morey said.
“A union power grab in the Pilbara risks dragging Western Australia back to the bad old days of the 1980s, where unions would strike at will – to the detriment of job creation and economic growth.
“As we see from the results of this survey, the resources industry offers well-paid jobs to a large number of Western Australians and that should not be undermined.
“Last week’s National Accounts data revealed that productivity has worsened in the last quarter and has receded to 2019 levels. The last thing we need is an industrial relations system that drives down productivity even further.”
