So who pays for all this infrastructure? Grange Resources are footing the bill - if they can come up with the cash. Grange have recently been approved to begin extracting iron ore from Wellstead, a tiny hamlet east of here, adjacent to the banksia-encrusted Fitzgerald National Park. Grange need a way to ship that ore to China. Albany's Princess Royal Harbour, being one of the best natural harbours in the world, is the chosen/cursed child.
And who are Grange Resources? Well, try googling 'Grange resources top 20 shareholders' and come to your own conclusion. Here is a piece written by my friend Michelle about these guys:
"I checked the list of shareholders and you guessed it; the Chinese have a huge stake in this. A company called Shagang International Holdings Limited has 40.43% (465,151,278 shares). Another Chinese company called Shagang International (Australia) Pty Ltd owns another 6.33%, so in total the Chinese own nearly 47% ....
.... if you check the shareholder register, you will see that a Singaporean investment company owns another share (call me paranoid)." Michelle Frantom. www.michellefrantom.blogspot.com
On the bright side, real estate prices in the boondocks will skyrocket for a coupla years and homebuyers will be re-inspired after B.H.P.'s unceremonious dumping of a certain south western community. Maybe some enthusiastic soul will even build a brand new supermarket in Wellstead.
Eventually the Cape ships, obese with exportable ore, will chug in and out of the Sound. After The Albany Port Authority has dredged the Sound, our waters will be be dealt their killer blow and the last natural southern part of the Princess filled in with her own spoils.
The money from this project is not going to stay in this country. The Port Authority gets the dredging paid for and Grange Resources gets cheap iron ore. Sometimes the Chinese government's aggressive garnering of food, mineral and water resources is a bit overwhelming.
The Tibetans have been saying that for quite a while now.
I wonder if we really want real estate prices to sky-rocket. If you are in the market it might be OK, but to buy a house in Australia now you need a two-income family. Rates are higher because values are higher. Investors need bigger returns so rents go up, displacing all of those people who can't even get into the market. In fact, overall, we in WA are paying a high price for success - our cost of living has gone through the roof during the boom of the last few years and people are descending on us at an alarming rate. The environment is being stomped on. I don't call any of that 'progress'.
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