6. An economic outline

Natural resources and industry

Australia is a highly developed industrial and agricultural country and one of the richest in the world in terms of mineral resources: iron ore, coal, bauxite, copper, lead, zinc, as well as oil, gas uranium, titanium, diamonds, gold, etc. Most other developed countries reached prosperity through the production and export of mineral goods. Australian prosperity, however, came chiefly from farming and mining. Although over four-fifths of Australia’s population lives in cities, it is an important agrarian country.

Australia is one of the world’s chief mining countries. It ranks first in the production of bauxite, diamonds and lead, and is a leading producer of coal, copper, gold, iron ore, manganese, nickel, silver, tin, titanium, tungsten, zinc and zircon. Nearly all the world’s high-quality opals are mined in Australia.

The states of Western Australia, Queensland and New South Wales are the leading mining states.

Australia has abundant mineral resources, but many of the deposits lie in the dry areas, far from major settlements. Such deposits are extremely expensive to mine.

Unlike most other developed countries, Australia imports more manufactured goods than it exports. The processing of farm and mineral products makes a major part of Australia’s manufacturing industry. For many years manufacturing was the leading employer in Australia, though since the beginning of the 1970s manufacturing has declined in importance, while service industries have increased significantly. The country relies on its farms and mines to produce goods for export. Thus, Australia’s agricultural and mineral exporters benefit the economy as a whole and enable many Australians to have a good standard of living.

The southeast of Australia, comprising New South Wales and Victoria, has nearly two-thirds of the country’s factories and about two-thirds of the factory workers. Most of the plants and factories are located in and around Sydney, Melbourne, Adelaide, the largest agglomerations of the country.

Agriculture

Although over four-fifths of Australia’s population live in cities Australia is an important farming country with a highly developed agriculture. Australian’s farms, or stations, are noted for their high level of efficiency and productivity, requiring a minimum of human labour. Only about 5 per cent of the working population are engaged in agriculture, and the industry produces almost all of Australia’s food requirements as well as large amounts of food for export.

Australia has a long tradition of sheep production. Sheep were brought to New South Wales with the First Fleet in 1788. Large landowners began breeding sheep for fine wool and England became its chief market.

The leading role in Australia’s agriculture belongs to stock-raising. There are about 140 million head of sheep and over 26 million head of cattle in the country. Australia is the world’s largest producer and exporter of wool: about a quarter of all the world’s wool clip comes from Australia.

The Australians who operate the outback cattle stations lead pioneer lives. The climate is far from being pleasant, with frequently unstable weather and weeks of terrible heat. Obtaining good water may often become a problem during long dry seasons. Kangaroos and dingoes must be hunted, rabbits kept under control. There are poddy-dodgers (thieves) who will steal cattle from parts of the stations that are far from the station headquarters.

Wheat is grown in all areas of the country that have medium rainfall and moderate temperature. But the production is concentrated mainly in New South Wales and Western Australia. In wheat export Australia ranks third in the world.

Australian farms grow potato, oats, barley, sugar-cane, cotton, maize, rice, fruits, hops and tobacco. Such crops as sugar-cane, bananas, pineapples and other crop that need a wet tropical climate, are cultivated on the east coast of Queensland. Cotton is and increasingly important crop in parts of New South Wales. Tobacco is grown in Victoria, Queensland and Western Australia. There are fruit orchards in every state. New South Wales and South Australia produce most of the country’s oranges. Australia also produces large quantities of grapes for use in making wine.

Tasmania is an important fruit-growing area, where fruit-growing is a family business. The island is also noted for growing hops, which are used in brewery, for beer is considered to be a national drink of the country.

Woodland covers about 6per cent of the Australian continent. Most of the forests are concentrated in the Eastern Highlands and in the moist coastal areas. Tropical rainforests occupy the northeast coast of the country. The eucalyptus trees are dominant in Australia’s forests and some of their species are used for making paper, furniture, floorboards.

Australia is surrounded by water and a great number of fish species live in the coastal water. But only a few are plentiful and edible and Australia’s resources are limited. Australia, however, has developed a small but profitable fishing industry. The chief earnings come from the fishing of shellfish, especially lobsters, oysters, prawns, scallops, and abalones. The fishing industry also provided sizeable catches of mullet, salmon and tuna.