Gittins' one extreme against another!

Comments on Ross Gittins “Only a small part of our good fortune is down to minerals “, 15/12/2010, http://www.smh.com.au/opinion/politics/only-a-small-part-of-our-good-fortune-is-down-to-minerals-20101214-18wqm.html
I note Gittins says that "our material standard of living is around average for the rich countries", as well as more on the average.

This is despite we have been exporting a lot of mining products and agricultural products that all are related to our natural endowment.

Would we still be able to be on the average if we did not have that lucky natural endowment?

So, let's don't use one line of extreme argument against another line of extreme argument, Mr Gittins.