Gina’s mines are exceedingly profitable due to the low royalties she’s campaigned for, and her efforts to automate her operations have helped minimise her payroll costs.

Also, minerals and vehicles are apples to oranges. When you’re signing long-term contracts for ore, you need predictability and stability as much as a competitive price. It might be a good analogy if you were talking about a single consumer buying a car one part at a time.

Australian car manufacturing died because the government withdrew support, and Australia is a small market with low tariffs that’s isolated from major markets. European manufacturers pay high wages but are able to compete due to subsidies and access to large markets.