Australian cities have historically been strongly rooted in natural resources-based development.  The recent ‘resources boom’ has produced a new round of urban development tied to global demand for iron ore, gas, and coal.  This has had significant implications for urban development in Australian cities, including impacts on the composition and livelihoods of the local labour force and the corporate landscape more generally.  The economic base of Perth and Brisbane in particular has changed significantly in response to this resources boom.  This change has had two important consequences, including the evolution of downstream services, and has changed the way in which these cities exert control over distant parts of the world.  This paper investigates both the local and the global dimensions of resources-driven urban development in Australia by providing an analytical overview of employment structure and the concomitant vectors of power as projected exogenously.