Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

It's a fantastic segue from Senator Williams. I thank him very much for his question. I know that Senator Williams is a very strong defender and protector of the fantastic Hunter coal industry in New South Wales.

The latest ABS figures show that Australia's coal exports totalled $56.5 billion last year, a 35 per cent increase from 2016. In fact, it's the highest amount of coal exports on record in Australia. Coal is still king; it is still king in this country. It's our second biggest export and it employs thousands and thousands of people. I know that that is why Senator Williams supports those jobs and supports those hardworking Australians that rely on the coal sector for their livelihoods.

They are people like the 16,170 people employed in the Hunter Valley, whom Senator Williams represents so well. There are also the 650 coal-fired power workers in the Hunter Valley and the 610 that are in the Newcastle-Lake Macquarie region. Not only does the coal sector provide them with jobs and their livelihoods; it also then provides cheap power as well. That is the cheap power that then fires the Tomago aluminium smelter and supports thousands of jobs in that industry as well.

The reason that we support industries like the coal sector is that they support jobs in this country. They support people being able to have the dignity of a job, to be able to provide for their families, to make sure that they can put their kids through school and to save for their retirement. That is why we support them. It is why we don't go on frolics with the Greens to try and get their preferences at different elections—elections like the Batman election—and desert our own base just to save one seat. We will not do that, because whatever the attacks are, whatever the ill-formed views are about the coal industry, we will stand up for them and for their jobs.