I think she’s IRL trolling. Regardless of the merits of her statements, there are some things that you just shouldn’t say as a hyper gazillionaire, no matter how much you believe them.
Will Australians stand for this?
Will Australians stand for what?
What are you suggesting we do- tar and feather her for having an opinion? She is one unelected person- no one will give a fuck in a week.
The two countries don’t compete, AFAIK. Australia is mainly doing mining for the high-tech industry, and Africa is more gold and diamonds. There’s not too much competition.
But keeo trying. Even a stopped clock is right twice a day.
I don’t know about today, but wasn’t the entire population of Zimbabwe millionaires or billionaires a little while back?
The woman in question gets her wealth largely from iron mining-- mines which produce about 30M tonnes of iron ore per year. While Australia, as a whole, produces quite a bit more than that, Africa produces over 60 tonnes per year, so from her standpoint, African iron mining is indeed a competitor, producing more than twice as much as the mines she controls do.
Seems unlikely that Africa is much competition for Australia;
In 2010 at least, Australia produced six times more Iron Ore than all of the African nations on that list combined.
It’s enough to wipe out GR’s entire capacity, twice over. If you’ve ever run a business, you’d know that’s a competitor worth worrying about. Especially during a world wide slow down of economic activity.
Look, the woman seems like an entitled bitch. Her comment was over the top, but there is no reason to pretend that she has nothing to fear about competition from Africa. That is demonstrably false.
I’m personally inclined to care more about the miners in her operation who will likely be laid off. Personally, I have not one fuck to give for the “economic problems” of anyone with more than an order of magnitude more money than it would take for me to live a life of all the ease and luxury I could ever imagine.
She doesn’t have anything to fear except losing things that to her are points on a scoreboard. Boo hoo.
Perish the thought, you sack of troll parts.
I can’t say that I know much of the economics involved, but it seems to me that mining is essentially non-competitive. The product isn’t going anywhere, and neither is the market; even if it cost more to get it out of the earth, you’ll still be able to sell it.
In other words, I don’t see how the success of a mine in one country has any direct impact on the success of a mine in another country. Can anyone explain it to me?
Demand rises and falls just like any other product, but at this point it’s not like the Australian miners are causing their product to be priced out of the market. So she’s not making as huge a profit as she would be if she was paying $2 a day. I doubt those workers are anywhere near as efficient as her current work force AND it’s not like Australia wants to nuke their own economy and become a total shithole to the point where $2 a day is a reasonable wage. The reason Australia produces so much iron is precisely because it is so lucrative for them. It it wasn’t, they wouldn’t be doing it.
She’s a whiny little bitch who is complaining that because she can’t essentially hire slaves or chattel workers, she isn’t making that extra few dollars. She’s already one of the richest people in the world and as I said, she can’t take it with her. So what the fuck does she need it for? Nothing. She’s throwing away her humanity for a fucking illusion.
This.
Plus, miners make a shitload of money because they (mostly) uproot themselves from various parts of the continent to work in places that are shitful. Mining sites are not exactly renowned for being up there in the Most Liveable towns in the world. They’re stuck out in the middle of nowhere, with (mostly) no local infrastructure or services that most of us take for granted.
The FIFO folk live in barrack-like conditions (at an exorbitant cost of course), whilst the local residents find that their previous lifestyle has been priced out of reach. With rents in mining-towns now topping 3K (AUD) per WEEK for a house or unit, plus the ridiculous prices of food and other living essentials (due to the distance they need to be transported from major capitals) I reckon the miners need all the they can screw out of Rinehart’s profits.
Of course, it might be argued that the high costs of accommodation are in fact caused by the high wages the mine-workers command, but it’s moot. If Gina wants to import workers from overseas who will work for a minimal wage, they won’t be able to afford to live.
Simple.
Gina Rinehart is, in my opinion, a troll. A whingeing bitch, and a troll.
Did you ever consider the possibility that African miners might be being paid too little?
It is impossible to be paid too little to a Libertarian.
Yes it’s stupid.
Eventually. If your price is above market you won’t sell it now; you will have to wait till other miners’ costs go up, or their mines run out, and you become competitive. Short term thinking however means there is a great deal of pressure to mine and sell ASAP.
I don’t think Rinehart is a troll. She is and for her whole life has always been so wealthy, and so entitled, and so cocooned in yesmen and toadies, that she just has No Frickin’ Idea.
No. Because there isn’t anything this lady can do about that even if they are. She, entitled bitch that she may be, has to deal with the facts on the ground. As do you and I when we are doing something that someone elsewhere will do for less money.
Seriously, what should she do? Fly over to South Africa and organize a labor union? Perhaps that’s something you should do fi you think they’re paid too little.
No, she has to deal with the facts on the ground that that’s how much you have to pay to mine iron in Australia. She can either pony up, or leave the ore in the ground. If she makes less money… that’s her problem.
Seriously? How about: buy up mines in Africa and pay her new workers there decently? Thus a/ forcing other competing mines there to raise their wages to keep good workers and b/ putting some money into the local economy.
I don’t really understand the point of this… tangent. It’s like saying Satan could do good works too – if he wanted to. Sure, but so what? Do we have an actual date for when Hell freezes over?