Planned mining reforms just scratch surface

The problem, according to Dr Webb, is that because universities are funded by the Federal Government on a student numbers basis, courses such as geology - which have a relatively low number of enrolments - "provide inadequate income and increasingly are viewed as drains on struggling university budgets".

In addition, there is little teaching of geology in secondary schools, so that students have little exposure to the mining industry.

If Mr Howard is serious about ensuring that Australia's mining industry has a long-term future, he would be better off focusing on stimulating exploration and funding universities so that the dire shortage of geoscience professionals is quickly dealt with.

There's no point puffing your chest out about streamlining mining projects, if there are fewer and fewer coming online.