Social Impacts of Mining

1
Social Impacts of Mining balancing social
economic sustainability?

• Dr Shane Hopkinson
• Program Director Psych Sociology
• Central Queensland University
• Mackay

2
Outline

• Economic and the social
• Make econ picture more 3 dimensional
• Benefits poorly distributed
• Need to trap them for future
• Economic gains versus social costs
• Not of balancing them but re-thinking them as
  types of investment
• Post-boom regional sustainability and 'knowledge
  village'

3
2 Sides?

• Forum wanted to deal with social and the economic
• Often seemed that we speak different languages
  even if the words are same
• 'We deal with people They deal with numbers'
• Economist see social scientists as vague
  touchy feely

4
Value of Queensland exports
5
Where does the money go? Different
stakeholders
6
Where does the money go? In the community

• An additional 10,000 directly employed since 2000
  
• Estimate this is 1.06 B in extra wages in
  central Qld (125K average wage)?

7
Economic benefits not distributed Between
sexes

• GenderWomen 2x likely to have ylt400.
• 0.12 in mining range

• Race 85 Anglo, about 3.5 Indigenous no
  specific data

8
Where does the money go?
Other costs
9
Where does the money go?

• The State collects 7 royalties to the tune of
  1153 million
• Profit BHP Rio Tinto around 7-10 billion each
  year
• Returns to shareholders 40-50 mainly big
  institutional investors ie outside the region
• Make picture less 'flat' by adding in social
  actors non-economic values

10
Adding dimensions

• Economic discourse is quantitative, a 'flatland'
  perspective to which social variables give a new
  dimension
• Workcamps are a gendered issue
• alcohol
• traditional roles
• social isolation
• Health, policing
• Effect on families

11
Social costs

• Seen news reports
• housing affordability
• health of families eg divorce rosters
• driver fatigue
• These costs are borne by community as a whole,
  while benefits narrower
• BUT
• Language means we think in terms of econ benefits
  vs social costs hence need for balance

12
Not balance but non-econ. 'value'

• Dominance of econ. discourse means non-econ
  values are marginalised
• Access Economics study of DV gave cost 8.1
  billion
• Call a thing immoral or ugly, soul destroying or
  a degradation of Man, a peril to the peace of the
  world or to the well-being of future generations
  as long as you have not shown it be be
  'uneconomic' you have not really questioned its
  right to exist, grow, and prosper (Schumacher
  1973, p. 34)?
• So how did these things get separated?

13
Why do we think this way?

• History
• Econ/Social sciences started life as moral
  sciences
• Part of analysing best way to govern society
• Economics focused on market values, and prices
  which measured growth progress
• Social science dealt with other non-mkt
  institutions and thus seen as issues, problems,
  barriers

14
Problems with social science

• Talked about prob. of economics
• Ignores the market (or sees it as the cause of
  all problems) not just another social institution
• One-sided focus on culture, ideas and experience
• Fails to develop ways to measure non-economic
  values (some papers that follow address this)?

15
Not balance but rethink...

• We all know that social econ not separate but
  we talk as if they are
• We need socio-economic analysis
• one recognises values beyond economic ones
• one that treats things with a qualitative
  dimension (but is still rigorous)
• Some work already but need a better awareness of
  it

16
Thinking in terms of 'capital'

• Economic sociology
• Work in business Jim Collins
• Money capital, physical capital, human capital
• Idea of 'natural' capital
• Aspects of social capital literature
• treats humans as source of value (an asset) not
  an expense or 'problem'
• recognises social networks and trust as more
  important eg Putnam

17
Competing 'capitals'

• But also that capitals COMPETE eg Economic
  capital create value but undermines it
• Destroy natural capital by treating
  non-renewables as 'income'
• Undermine social capital creating inequity,
  family stress,
• Damage human capital overexploitation, health
  issues, fatigue, MVA
• Level of investment in each type that should be
  balanced

18
Rethinking...

• Instead of seeing social costs as side-effects we
  can see them as effects of unbalanced investment
  in a single form of (community) capital
• Instead of seeing Austudy or money spend on
  health care as a 'cost' to the taxpayer we can
  think of it as an investment in the region
• Most of these inputs are spent here

19
CQU as 'knowledge village'

• Public money spent on CQU is not a drain but an
  investment in intellectual capital in the region
• In econo-speak we are expected to be vocationally
  relevant, service the needs of industry all to
  the good
• Looking to the future CQU is one way we can trap
  wealth here by creating intellectual capital for
  the future

20
CQU as 'knowledge village'

• Get beyond 'rocks and crops' economy
• Region's future lies in balanced investment in
  social and intellectual capital. Wollongong Uni
  generates 13 million a DAY for its region
• Already CQU generates income and employment in
  the region via teaching, research and
  administration trad economic terms
• It is also an investment in human capital most
  graduates stay or return to the region

21
CQU as 'knowledge village'

• But if better networks could be built with
  business, state and local government around
  research and training the synergies would create
  more social capital
• Currently it is estimated that our Noosa hub
  portal for BLM and BNM- in coop with local
  councils, hospitals and schools create synergies
  worth 15 million to their local economy

22
A sustainable future?

• Find ways to redistribute the gains and trap
  benefits in the region
• Part of that is not balancing social and economic
  but rethinking them BOTH as part of post-boom
  regional sustainability
• Like Noosa we could create a 'lifestyle' region
  with a 'creative class' of scientists, engineers,
  teachers and artists centred on university as a
  knowledge village as the centre of a globalised
  economy based on local community

23
Lunchtime meeting

• Develop plans for new Bachelor of Social science
  degree at CQU
• 12.30 Rm G.09
• Or speak to me, Shane Hopkinson, directly