If we want our standards of living to continue, we simply must have more investment in mines, and more mines developed. For that our governments must better understand mining and put policies in place that actually welcome, not deter, investment.

New mines take on average over 16 years to develop. But things are far worse in Australia, with more and more legislation that is unattractive to investors, and more and more coloured tape making approvals increasingly burdensome, time-consuming and risky.