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Airdate: Dirty Business: How Mining Made Australia

This 3 part SBS series tracks how the history of mining has shaped Australia in unexpected ways.

2012-12-26_0025The first big, local documentary series for 2013 is Dirty Business: How Mining Made Australia from Renegade Productions.

The three part series explores how this industry has shaped Australia in unexpected and extraordinary ways and how it has influenced the nation, from the first gold rush to current political debate.

Mining has sparked mass migration yet ignited race riots; toppled prime ministers yet laid the foundation for modern democracy; wrenched Aboriginal lands away yet provides perhaps the best hope for the future of many Indigenous communities. With interviews from leading historians, opinion formers and industry experts, this series shows how in 150 years, nothing has influenced government, the economy, and the lives of the majority of Australians, like mining.

From the Gold Rush of the 1850s to the present day, the opening episode charts the key battles and dramatic turning points in the epic struggle to share in the vast mineral wealth of Australia. As mining made Australia rich, the money changed virtually every aspect of society. The trillions made forged a national economy and saved the country from depression. However mining is an uncertain bet, and while the constant cycles of boom and bust saw the rise of some of the richest companies in the world, the wanton speculation inherent in mining, also destroyed fortunes and made Australia an economic roller coaster.

8:30pm Sunday, 6 January SBS ONE.

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