Western Australia must be a great place, for it appears to be a-slosh in money. Consider this report from a longer piece encouraging teachers in Western Australia to either go on strike for more money or go work on the mines:
The best bit is that when interviewed he “conceded that many people on high incomes would be attracted by a teacher’s wage”. He actually admitted that a teacher’s salary was not attractive.He goes on to say that people who are already financially comfortable will make the move. What about the current teachers who are financially uncomfortable? He is completed misguided in his notion. Why would a mining engineer give up his $160k per annum income to earn $50k standing in front of 30 or so disinterested children? What Mr. McGowan should be more concerned with is teachers leaving the profession to go and work on the mines.
This weekend I met a California teacher. Her daugher is called Reagan. Can you imagine burdening a child with so blatant a politician’s name. Well of course she is a Republican–actually the only person on this visit to the USA who believes McCain will win. Point is however her salary as a high school teacher is no where near $50,000 and she let me know it is all the fault of that weak-willed governor in Sacramento who listens to his wife too much.
I suggested that she and her husband leave the Inland Empire and go to Canada to get a decent wage. Her husband is a geologist working for housing developers. Obviously he is scared he will be laid off soon—not many new housing developments going up around Lake Elsinor these days. But then even as a geologist on a mine in either the USA or Canada he will not get a salary like that in Australia.
Maybe I should recommend that both of them go to Western Australia. 
The thing is that, at least as far as mining engineers are concerned, this is true. Teachers in WA earn a range based on experience from approximately AU$45,000 to AU$69,000. The $69,000 is a glass ceiling.
Mine workers from even the lowest earn nearly $100,000. This is for 12 hour shifts and sometimes 3 weeks on and 1 week off. Still the disparity is significant.