Ken O'Dowd (Flynn, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Resources are still the lifeblood of Flynn. Of course, along with agriculture, it has kept us safe and economically sound through COVID. Our agriculture industry, with beef, cotton, grains, wheat, citrus, nuts and berries, has been very good to us. But it's the gas, thermal coal and coking coal prices that have in some places doubled, tripled and quadrupled what they were prior to COVID. It is a wonderful thing for our community. It's responsible for $1.2 billion in wages in the resources industry across Central Queensland across Flynn, 8,833 full-time jobs and $3.1 billion spent on goods and services based locally.

There are 1,798 local businesses that benefit from the resources industry in Flynn. They contribute to 462 community organisations and $4.5 billion in royalties across the Queensland government. Without that $4.5 billion from Flynn, the state government would have to readjust their budget dramatically. For all this, they only use 0.1 per cent of the Queensland landmass. Unemployment in Flynn has dropped from seven per cent in June 2020 to 6.5 per cent in June 21, and I expect further falls. (Time expired)