Voyages

“There is a tide in the affairs of men.
Which, taken at the flood, leads on to fortune;
Omitted, all the voyage of their life
Is bound in shallows and in miseries.
On such a full sea are we now afloat,
And we must take the current when it serves,
Or lose our ventures”

Oh dear I hear the reader groan, he has started quoting Shakespeare. But something made me remember this quote from Julius Ceaser when we learnt it at school forty years ago. I suppose the “Matrix Jolt” was caused by a certain event which happened thirty years ago today. The birth of my first child an event so life changing, so bright and uplifting that I was never the same again. Ok I can hear you saying “my god what was he like before this event?” Well as good old Leonard C would say he was a sailor looking for a port.

Well enough of the family reminiscences and Shakespeare’s quotes let’s get back to construction or as it is at the moment, coal mining in Queensland. The quotation is curiously apposite as well. Big investments are being made, skills shortages recognised, more boom times ahead. Or are they. The GFA mark two hangs over us like Damocles’ sword and if it falls the repercussions will be dire, investment will stop, over extended mortgagees will lose their houses, the social effect will be devastating. We need to be prudent and show some foresight.

We all know what comes after a boom