By 2011, capital spending by the resources sector had already roughly trebled since 2005. It would peak the following year after rising by a further 50 per cent. The results of that investment have come on stream, or soon will. Today, Australia ships around 2 million tonnes of iron ore and 1 million tonnes of coal per day.
The investment was not just in iron ore and coal. On forecasts of strong demand from Asia – not just China but Korea and Japan as well – massive investments are under way in gas. LNG exports have begun from some of the Queensland projects and are expected to increase strongly over the coming years.