"We've had no vision since Charlie Court ruled here." That was the message one representative of Perth's mining and resources sector gave to WA Business News' recent mining services and mining technology forum.
"We've had no vision since Charlie Court ruled here."
That was the message one representative of Perth's mining and resources sector gave to WA Business News' recent mining services and mining technology forum.
Using the forum to air his gripe with the state government's handling of the state's future, Bernard Ridgeway, managing director of Perth-based drilling services company Imdex, said Western Australia needed decision makers with integrity, something that had been lacking since Sir Charles Court became premier in 1974.
Referring to recent political scandals in WA, Mr Ridgeway questioned the capability of the state's leaders to guide WA through the resources boom.
"We have to put up with that sort of thing in government because there's no-one better," he told the forum.
A key issue raised at the forum was what the mining sector perceived to be a lack of long-term vision from the state government.
Managing director of construction and engineering company Modern Industries, Andrew White, said the federal government's 2020 vision was a start, but wasn't forward thinking enough.
"Back 50 or 100 years ago we used to plan projects that had a 100-year look ahead," he said. "That's where we should be looking to."
Maptek manager of technical services, Claudia Monreal, said although WA was an isolated state, the government needed to think big when planning for the future.
Ms Monreal agreed with the forum that the government needed to plan further down the track with at least a 30-year vision.
According to ISS Group general manager Frank Zenke, Australia was once renowned for being "the smart country" but it had somehow lost its way.
He said government leaders had minimal knowledge of how to run a business and seldom looked beyond their next term in government.
Australian Mine Services managing director Ian Massara said government leaders at both national and state levels had to plan on a larger scale and think with more of a business sense.
"The people we have in government are not the right people; if you're a smart businessman you wouldn't go into government, would you?" he said.
According to Mr Zenke, had previous state governments had a long-term vision, mining towns such as Karratha and Port Hedland would now be more vibrant with substantial permanent population bases.
"The government needs to put infrastructure in place to make living in these country towns more attractive, instead of having this fly-in, fly-out culture," Mr Zenke said.
Nic Pollock, Gemcom Australia's managing director, also called on the government to boost infrastructure programs that would facilitate the mining and resources sector.
"Let's invest in major infrastructure projects, let's pay our teachers [well] and let's bring the best people here to work and stand out so we can lead the world," he said.
While acknowledging the government's role in developing infrastructure projects, Immersive Technologies chief executive Peter Salfinger called for substantial tax breaks along with research and development tax concessions.
"Couple it up with incentives for exports, so if a company brings in some gain [to Australia] you get a tax break because you're creating wealth for the country," Mr Salfinger said.
