Rest hope on battlers, not billionaires

We Australians get a lot of free advice from billionaires on how to deal with our largest trading partner, China. First, we had media mogul James Packer saying that we didn't "bow enough" or treat our trading partners with enough deference. At the other end of the spectrum is Minerology owner Clive Palmer.

The two billionaires' remarks, especially Palmer's reference to "mongrels" and "bastards", created ripples in Beijing and Canberra. Palmer has since apologized. But do either of the two really have an impact on the long-term trading relationship between China and Australia? And what's the future of Sino-Australian trade ties?

While iron ore and coal is a big part of the story, Australia will move from the mining boom to the dining boom, as its food exports grow rapidly and it sees more agricultural delegations visiting China to build up domestic farm capacity.