It’s difficult to comprehend the sheer scale of money that flows from Australia’s iron ore mines, concentrated in the dusty expanse of Western Australia’s Pilbara. Last year alone, Australia sold more than $116 billion of the rusty red rock, tipping $23 billion into government coffers.
But a major chunk of those shipments could come screeching to a halt for an unknown period as workers in the key export hub of Port Hedland, 1600 kilometres north of Perth, weigh up strike action in pursuit of pay packets as high as $240,000 a year.
