Derivative instruments were essentially unknown in 1980; daily turnover (notional amounts) had risen to almost $ 1½ trillion by 1st April 1995 and one-half of these trades involved a non-domestic counterparty.4 Finally, the fact that new information is now available instantaneously and almost costlessly around the globe further increases the likelihood that shocks in individual countries will be propagated elsewhere, even when such contagion might not be warranted by underlying economic fundamentals.
So it would seem obvious that the impact of an event that increases the demand for minerals is likely to see, in time, the output of WA given more of a boost than that of Victoria. But as usual, the picture gets more complicated when we think further. The headquarters of some major mining companies are in Melbourne.