Maligning mining not so mirthful

My attendance at a Fringe World show the other day provided a helpful reminder about how the rest of the country just doesn’t understand Western Australia at times.

While the cultural differences between us the eastern states should not be overplayed, there were moments when the comedians I had paid to see revealed their lack of understanding about this side of the country.

One asked: “Who likes the pokies here?”. There was no response; the crowd was 100 per cent silent.

Looking a little surprised, the comedian soon moved on, probably wondering if he’d accidently found himself addressing a crowd of reformed gamblers.

Little did he know, obviously, that pokies are not ubiquitous here like in most other states.

We pay a price in missed state revenue and GST distributions due to that principled stance, but I could sense from the room that no-one was missing them.

Perhaps more tin-eared was another comic, from Melbourne I recall, who opened things up by talking about how well we seemed to be doing here due to our ‘desecration of the earth’, or words to that effect, which I took to mean the environmental impact of mining.

I realise that, for many comedians, provoking the audience is part of the job, but it seemed like a poor opening gambit to suggest you don’t approve of what our state does best.

To be fair, the silence was not complete. He had some murmurs of approval; Disrupt Burrup and other activists live here, so it’s not like everyone in WA supports resources extraction.

Nevertheless, most of us probably knew the joke was on him. We pay his bills and he doesn’t even realise it.

There is that cultural chasm.

There are many reasons east coast dwellers don’t understand what WA is about.

Too many, it has to be said, have never been here. Perhaps we need to ensure every child of school age has a funded trip here, like the Commonwealth does to ensure each generation has the opportunity visit the national capital.

But at least these comedians can’t be blamed for that level of ignorance, albeit they may well have landed in Perth at its cosmopolitan best – the Fringe in summer – and likely never left Northbridge.

To take the argument to its logical extension, surely they’d agree that everything about civilisation is a despoliation of the natural setting that preceded it.

And when I say everything, I mean exactly that. What we all need for life as we know it – the civilised version – requires natural resources such as those mined in WA.

Do those in the east really believe building communities there had a lesser impact on the immediate environment than mining has had on its locale?

Their homes, shopping centres, farms, roads and infrastructure, including wind farms, are all despoliation of a sort.

What about gigantic sporting venues such as the Melbourne Cricket Ground and everything around it? Is what has been destroyed to create those environments not despoliation?

And that’s before they use an iPhone or drive their electric vehicle.

The argument about lithium and critical minerals being needed to power the renewable energy revolution is simply the fashionable version.

The reality is we need natural resources for the basics of a civilised society. And that’s long before we consider such luxuries as using technology-driven efficiency to reduce our impact, be it on the earth or the atmosphere.

And, my main point, is that footprint.

It doesn’t take a genius to go to Google Maps, put it on satellite view and compare the difference between human-induced change around Melbourne compared to either Perth or, far more obviously, part of the Pilbara.

I looked at a view where my screen width represented 200 kilometres of surface area.

With Melbourne in the middle, its urban landscape and cleared land dominates the picture, with perhaps 15 per cent appearing natural, especially the Yarra Ranges National Park, if we ignore the waters of Port Phillip Bay biting into the picture.

At the same resolution, Perth is slightly better, thanks to the Mundaring and Jarrahdale state forests to the city’s east.

In both cases, the patchwork of land cleared for farms, towns and the criss-crossing of roads is obvious; more so in Victoria, albeit the rural landscape looks greener.

Zoom up into the Pilbara and it’s hard to find much at that resolution. I looked for Newman, knowing that Mount Whaleback is nearby.

The mine, despite being massive and with surrounds covering at least 30 square kilometres, is barely discernible. Much like the slightly smaller industrial precinct incorporating Melbourne’s ports. 

Opthalmia Dam, near Newman, is slightly bigger and more obvious in the picture. Just.

The only road visible is the Great Northern Highway and its offshoot, which forks off to Marble Bar.

In percentage terms, obvious human impact is negligible.