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How Mining MADE Australia

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How Mining MADE Australia PUBLICITY MATERIALS DIRTY BUSINESS HOW MINING MADE AUSTRALIA SERIES PRODUCER & DIRECTOR JACOB HICKEY PRODUCER ALEX WEST EXECUTIVE PRODUCERS JOE CONNOR, KEN CONNOR & ALEX WEST © ATOM 2013 PAGE 1 OF 10 A STUDY GUIDE BY MARGUERITE O’HARA http://www.metromagazine.com.au ISBN: 978-1-74295-286-4 http://www.theeducationshop.com.au OUTLINE OF THIS GUIDE A. Introductory material, including curriculum guide- lines, the language of mining, pre-viewing questions for discussion and brief biographies of the experts appearing in the series INTRODUCTION B. Three sets of questions and quotes relating to each of the three episodes – Money, Power and Land Dirty Business is the story of mining. Beneath our feet is a treasure trove of unimaginable riches. But this story is C. Conclusions – looking at the production values of about much more than precious minerals and dusty mine the series, post-viewing questions about the topic shafts. For 150 years mining has changed the lives of us all and the series as a whole and References and in unexpected and extraordinary ways. It sparked waves Resources of mass immigration and ignited political revolt. But min- ing has also toppled Prime Ministers and it has wrenched Aboriginal people’s land away. It has saved Australia from financial ruin and made people rich in the most unpredict- THE FILMMAKERS able ways. Mining’s rich history is a battleground that has divided, and yet forged, the nation. Land, money and power Key Crew – this is the epic history of mining. SERIES PRODUCER & DIRECTOR Jacob Hickey This series explores that history over three one-hour WRITERS Jacob Hickey and Alex West episodes from the Victorian goldfields to the Western NARRATOR Colin Friels Australian Pilbara. The three episodes in broadcast order are Money, Power and Land. The series reveals how these PRODUCER Alex West three things are interwoven in Australian history. Dirty Busi- ness asks two fundamental questions: DIRECTOR OF PHOTOGRAPHY Kathy Chambers EDITOR Steven Robinson • Who owns the minerals and potential wealth beneath our feet? ORIGINAL MUSIC Dale Cornelius HISTORICAL CONSULTANT Professor Geoffrey Bolton • Who should benefit from the wealth such resources generate? CULTURAL ADVISOR Darren Dale SCREEN EDUCATION ©ATOM 2013 ©ATOM SCREEN EDUCATION DIRTY BUSINESS 2 HOW MINING MADE AUSTRALIA A. INTRODUCTORY MATERIAL Indigenous Studies: Episode three, Land, investigates the issue of land rights for Indigenous Australians and 1) Curriculum Guidelines contextualises this struggle within the issue of mining and resource development. Dirty Business is a resource that could be used with middle secondary, senior secondary and tertiary stu- Economics and Politics: Exploring the nexus be- dents in a number of study areas, including: tween the economics of mining and political power; understanding how wealth creation through mining and Australian History: Using evidence to understand selling minerals from gold to iron ore and bauxite has how mining has changed the nation over the past 200 shaped and continues to shape Australian economic years; exploring the connections between economic development and political stability. and social development and the impact of mining on Indigenous Australians. Environmental Studies: Understanding the con- sequences of often competing demands of people, Media Studies: Exploring how the documentary format governments, residents and developers to preserve en- can bring historical events, people, places and politics vironments and generate businesses and employment. to life in visual terms. The central theme of this series is mining in all its different Geography: Developing an understanding of how dif- manifestations, tracing through different stages in post- ferent people use, manage, develop and respond to the colonial Australian History and life from the 1830s to the environment for different purposes. Becoming aware of present. In telling this story, many areas of life in Australia the profound consequences of mining to land and peo- are explored, such as successive waves of immigration, ple – of the diverse ways in which manufacturing indus- state and federal rights and conflicts, the role of women, tries throughout the world have created an enormous the development of democracy, Indigenous land rights and demand for mining’s products, while at the same time the nexus between wealth and power. The program contex- mining has often conflicted with Indigenous people’s tualises the current debate about mining taxes which have rights over the land. Many varied activities could be so often generated conflict between successive federal and undertaken in relation to a study of mining in Australia, state governments and powerful mining interests. such as mapping and studying land use, transportation and environmental effects. SCREEN EDUCATION ©ATOM 2013 ©ATOM SCREEN EDUCATION DIRTY BUSINESS 3 HOW MINING MADE AUSTRALIA 2) The language of finance and mining or through individual contracts. Workers are concerned to business secure and maintain fair pay and decent working condi- tions. Many companies now recognise that a successful Today we often hear many specialist terms used in the and profitable company is dependent on a stable, properly media by politicians, journalists and economists. Like much remunerated workforce, but at the same time employers insider language, these terms can wash over us, but having want to keep employment costs as low as possible. a sense of what they mean is important, especially in rela- tion to mining operations in twenty-first century Australia. The Mining Tax – The Minerals Resources Rent Tax (MRRT) – known as the mining tax – applies to certain profits made Joint Venture (Often abbreviated to JV) – An entity formed from the extraction of iron ore and coal from Australian between two or more parties to undertake economic activ- mines. It was introduced by the Federal Government in ity together. The parties agree to create a new entity by 2012 and is believed by some to have played a role in the both contributing equity, and then sharing in the revenues, overthrow of Prime Minister Rudd. expenses, and control of the enterprise. 3) Pre-viewing questions Venture Capital (also known as VC or Venture) – A type of private equity capital typically provided to early-stage, high- 1. List as many minerals and ores as you can that are, or potential-growth companies in the interest of generating have been, mined in Australia (often from below the a return through an eventual realisation event such as the ground). sale and export of a product or resource. 2. Do you know what some of these raw materials are Parent Company – A company that owns enough voting used for in manufacturing? E.g. bauxite is used in the stock in another firm to control management and opera- production of aluminium tions by influencing or electing its board of directors; the second company is usually deemed a subsidiary of the 3. What are the physical characteristics of many of the parent company. areas such as the Pilbara in Western Australia and Kakadu in the Northern Territory where mineral resourc- Multinational Corporations – Companies that do business es are often located? in several different countries, such as McDonalds, Coca Cola Amatil, Rio Tinto and News Corporation. While their 4. What do you think mining is worth to Australia in export headquarters may be in the United Kingdom, the United terms? You may need to research these figures. States, Europe, Asia or the Middle East, they generally con- duct operations in many different parts of the world. Mining 5. Today, which country is the major importer of Australian companies are so capital-intensive that they are often minerals such as iron ore? owned by a multinational corporation with major holdings in various mining operations all over the world. 6. List as many mining companies as you can. Environmental Protection Agency (or Authority) (EPA) – 7. What are some of the careers available to people in the A government authority whose brief is to care for, protect, mining industry – both professional jobs such as engi- monitor and improve the environment, including air quality, neers and geologists as well as other types of skilled land and water use, marine and coastal management and and unskilled work on or under the ground? the greenhouse effect. 8. In what ways do mining activities contribute both di- Environmental Impact Statement (EIS) – Almost all rectly and indirectly to the national economy? developments, such as transport routes, housing devel- opments, airports and mining activities, have an impact 9. What is your understanding of the current Minerals on the environment. An EIS is a document that helps the Resources Rent Tax (MRRT) – known as ‘the mining tax’ government and the general public understand the effects – that applies to certain profits made from the extrac- of developments on the environment and decide whether tion of iron ore and coal from Australian mines? Outline developments should go ahead. Usually the government some of the factors that have reportedly decreased will permit developments but will insist on various modifica- expected revenue from collecting this tax. tions and safeguards designed to protect the environment and local residents. 10. How does involvement in the mining industry enable some individuals to become very rich, such as Gina Industrial Relations (IR) – The field of industrial relations Rinehart, said to be the wealthiest woman in the world? looks at the relationship between management and work- ers, sometimes groups of workers represented by a union 11. Do mining companies own the land on which they operate? SCREEN EDUCATION ©ATOM 2013 ©ATOM SCREEN EDUCATION DIRTY BUSINESS 4 HOW MINING MADE AUSTRALIA 4) Expert Commentators A number of historians, journalists, authors, economists, people who have a strong viewpoint about the mining miners and individuals with particular experience, knowl- industry? edge and understanding of different aspects of the history of mining contribute their expertise to this story in each of • What do you understand by the term ‘vested interest’? the three episodes.
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