As governments go, the Australian government at the federal level and in most states is good to deal with. However, there have been occasions when the lack of coordination and of common objectives between the individual state and the Commonwealth government have a serious impact on mining enterprises. Certainly this was the case in Australian iron ore, where the State of Western Australia authorized the development of a large number of projects at the same time, being eager to increase its revenues from royalties and to further the development of its sparcely populated territory. All of us were competing for the same market, but the Japanese steel mills coordinated their purchases through a single group, with the result that prices for the iron ore had finally to be negotiated at considerably lower levels than would have been attainable under a more orderly marketing program. At first the Commonwealth government was liberal in granting export permits but became disturbed over the trend toward continually lower prices and since has stepped into the picture and refused to authorize new contracts below a certain figure. This obviously has an impact on the competitive relationships of the various properties and influences their ability in the future to deal successfully with the Japanese purchasers. Nor is the government above bringing pressure to bear to influence prices on the local scene, for they forced the refiners to pay a premium to domestically produced crude oil when they were dissatisfied with the price that the buyer and seller were able to negotiate privately. There is even some reason to suspect that they will lend a helping hand to those enterprises which are largely Australian owned, for they are naturally anxious to see as -16-