Magnate slags miners

A workface dominated by soft, satisfied idealists is ''pissing away'' Australia's position of economic strength and taking the nation backwards, according to the boss of a Chinese-controlled mining company with multiple projects in Australia.

Former Western Mining Corporation boss Andrew Michelmore - now chief executive of Chinese government-dominated, Melbourne-based miner MMG - warned Australia was suffering from ''rich country's disease'' and would devolve into a welfare state unless workers rediscovered a hunger for excellence.

"need to get some hunger"

Addressing the Australian-British Chamber of Commerce (while London burns), Mr Michelmore lamented the immobility of the Australian workforce and the resulting skills shortage in remote areas such as Western Australia's Pilbara.

''People can't be bothered moving 25 kilometres to get a job because they will live off social welfare instead, and it's a real worry for me watching Australia have a luxurious time at the benefit of our relationship with China,'' he said.

Mr Michelmore said more seniors and women should be returned to a workforce that was dominated by people with ''airy fairy'', ''idealistic'' and ''altruistic'' attitudes. ''We need to get the grey hairs back into industry and working, we need to get more women involved in work,'' he said. ''We need to get some hunger and drive back into this country, we are becoming soft.''

Construction, Forestry, Mining and Energy Union national president Tony Maher rejected Mr Michelmore's comments, saying they were ''a Trojan horse for a Chinese labour debate''.

''Chinese companies want to use Chinese labour, that is the real problem here,'' he said. ''The truth is Australians are on the move for work. Other industries outside mining are complaining about the drain on labour. They can't both be right.''