Politics & Power Quote by Jay Weatherill

Weatherill’s line is the kind of calm, managerial sentence that tries to do three jobs at once: reassure, justify, and narrow the field of acceptable debate. By calling defence and mining the “great underpinnings” of economic growth, he isn’t just describing the economy; he’s defining what counts as serious prosperity. The phrasing smuggles in a hierarchy: these industries are framed as foundational, while everything else (arts, care work, education, climate transition) becomes supplementary or indulgent.

The intent is pragmatic politics. Defence and mining are sectors with high wages, clear metrics, and powerful constituencies. They also come pre-loaded with a narrative governments love: jobs you can point to, exports you can count, projects you can announce in hard hats. “Build on these” signals incrementalism, not reinvention. It tells business and unions: no sudden shocks, no moral crusades, we’re staying close to the existing growth machine.

The subtext is more complicated. Defence implies alignment with national security priorities, federal spending, and the geopolitical mood that makes military-industrial investment feel inevitable. Mining carries the promise of royalties and regional employment, but also the shadow of environmental conflict and commodity volatility. Pairing them lets the government borrow the legitimacy of “security” to buttress an extractive economy.

Context matters: in resource-heavy states and in election cycles, anchoring growth to defence and mining is a way to look responsible while avoiding the harder question of what happens when those “underpinnings” become liabilities.