Access director David Rumbens said the $A43 billion project was more than the full amount of private sector engineering construction spending in 2008-09 and more than double of that four years ago.The approval of the project also brings the total definite investment projects in Western Australia up to $166 billion, far outstripping the $107 billion for the rest of Australia, including $49 billion in Queensland.Rumbens noted that with Australia skating through the worst global downturn since the 1930s, Gorgon’s timing was impeccable.“Could there have been a better moment for the Australian economy for this project to actually be delivered?” he asked.Access added that Gorgon offered “renewed reasons for optimism” following a decline in the number of new projects in recent years. However, it warned that while demand from China had fuelled Australia’s resource industry, there remained “question marks over the durability of China’s economic recovery in the short term”.“If Chinese buyers withdraw from the scene for a period then commodity prices are likely to dip again, so there are risks ahead.”
