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

There are a lot of people with a loud voice, but a small number behind them, who think the coal industry is going to decline—and they are wrong. They are fundamentally wrong. Take the International Energy Agency's projections till 2040. If you take their central scenario, we'll all have to produce as much coal in the world in the first 40 years of this century as we ever have in history before—more in the first 40 years of this century than ever before, across the world. That's good news for Australia, because we have some of the highest quality, cleanest, best coals in the world. It is good news for jobs in Queensland. It's good news for jobs in New South Wales. It's good news for our prosperity right around the world. If only we can make sure we support the coal sector and the thousands of jobs that are in that sector, then we can take those opportunities and make sure we keep our prosperity high. That's what this government does. We support people with jobs, we support people who work hard and we want to continue to support the coal sector in this country.