PERTH (miningweekly.com) – New data released by advisory firm Deloitte Access Economics has shown that iron-ore has slipped as Australia’s fastest-growing sector over the last year, to be overtaken by information media and telecommunications.

In its latest Business Outlook, Deloitte Access Economics noted that mining exploration has also reported the biggest falls in the last year, which was no surprise considering the falling commodity prices.

“The negatives facing Australia are big and growing; China is throwing the kitchen sink at its slowdown, but that hasn’t been enough to halt the slide in global commodity prices, because the stumble in China’s growth has coincided with a surge in global mining and energy supplies,” Deloitte Access Economics partner Chris Richardson said on Monday.

“And those lower coal, gas and iron-ore prices mean miners won’t build new mines once the current construction surge passes.”

Deloitte Access Economics was expecting mining-related construction in Western Australia to slow significantly and, while the state was not expected to “crash and burn”, conditions were likely to worsen before they improved, Richardson said.

Further, Queensland’s prospects in gas have also been dealt a blow from falls in energy prices, while the Northern Territory was also approaching the tail-end of its mining-related construction boom.

However, Richardson said the positives were also big and growing.

“There are two levers that rock Australia’s world; interest and exchange rates.  The Australian dollar’s fall is already throwing its loving arms around the Australian economic outlook. And there’s plenty of good news still to come, as it takes two years for a lower Australian dollar to have its maximum positive impact on the economy.”

The results would be similar for interest rates, whose “lower for longer” profile would keep generating good news. 

“And although families don’t love weak wage growth, it does help to generate job gains. That leaves the overall outlook unchanged, with growth set to stay below trend through to 2017. And while ‘below trend’ sounds disappointing, you should be cheering – history and economics both say that Australia’s largest-ever boom could have ended in our biggest bust. Be happy it didn’t.”