f 20th-century Australia was dominated by New South Wales and Victoria and the rivalry between Sydney and Melbourne, then this century is set to be marked by the rise of the mining states – Western Australia and Queensland.

The number of resources executives among the country’s top 200 wealthiest business leaders has almost doubled in the past year, highlighting the fortunes being made in a Chinese-fuelled bonanza. The boom is centred on Western Australia, with its iron ore, gold and natural gas reserves, and on Queensland, with its coal.

Directors of resources companies made up 71 of the 200 ranked in an executive rich list, published last month by business magazine BRW, up from 39 last year. The survey ranks chief executives and other full-time directors of the top 500 listed companies according to the value of their shareholdings in the companies they work for.

Top is Andrew Forrest, the Perth-based entrepreneur behind Fortescue Metals, the iron ore group that hopes to become a third force in Western Australia’s Pilbara region behind BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto. Now ranked ahead of Sydney’s James Packer, the value of Mr Forrest’s holding in Fortescue more than quadrupled in the year to March to A$8.35bn ($7.8bn, £4bn, €5bn).

The rise of Mr Forrest, a scion of one of Western Australia’s founding families, underlines the confidence of investors in the longevity of the commodities boom: Fortescue has yet to make its first iron ore shipments.

Tim Harcourt, chief economist at the Australian Trade Commission, said this week: “There is a once in a generation structural shift in the Chinese economy and it is going to drive a once in a generation demand for Australian resources.”

The creation of multi-millionaire executives is being mirrored more widely in the two states, which, until the past decade, had lagged behind NSW and Victoria in relative wealth.

Western Australia and Queensland have the lowest unemployment rates in Australia and the fastest growth in population and the economy. Western Australia grew 6.3 per cent last year, almost double the national rate, and its unemployment rate was just 3.3 per cent in March.

House prices in Perth are now on a par with those in Sydney, while South Hedland, the residential section of the Pilbara’s main port, saw median prices shoot up 48 per cent in the 12 months to February.

The state government has set up a “Go West Now” website to lure workers from the eastern seaboard.

But the influx of newcomers is also having unwelcome effects in states once known for their relaxed lifestyles. A survey rated them the two worst states for friendliness, with 16.5 per cent of Queenslanders and 14 per cent of Western Australians unable to name their neighbour.