Australian continent are based upon sales contracts to consumers in the Japanese steel industry, which is deficient in suitable reserves of its own. Australia is a trading nation and Japan is its best customer, not just for minerals, but also for wool, hides, and food products. The balance of trade is decidedly favorable to Australia and unfavorable to Japan, but the interrelationship of the two economies is such that one noted economist has said that the Australian economy is just as sound and no sounder than the economy of Japan. However, the dramatic developments limits in the design and construction of very large multi-purpose bulk carrier has brought about substantial economies in ocean shipping--a--nd brings with it the prospect that new markets for Australian raw materials will be emerging from other industrial centers of the world. Turning from markets to manpower, the shortage of skilled labor for new mining operations is critical. When unemployment in the Nation's leading cities and most densely populated areas is virtually nonexistent, the problem of attracting the people needed in an isolated mining venture lacking many of the amenities of civilization is very real indeed. And once these people are hired, living conditions must be made favorable enough to retain them. Australian labor legislation and labor practices are far different from those of the United States. Here again, I suspect that Australia's long isolation from competitive forces in the world has had a major bearing on these practices. Australia is one of the most unionized countries in the world, sixty percent of the work force belonging to one of 350 trade unions. The government, at the -10-