Slade Brockman (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Resources and Northern Australia, Senator Canavan. I represent the state of WA, where mining is a key contributor to employment and the local economy, which you addressed earlier this week. I note in the gallery the presence of Patrick Hill, Shire President of Laverton, in whose shire are many very important mines for Western Australia. Could you outline the contribution the resources sector makes to our economy and to the whole of Australia?

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

I thank Senator Brockman for his question. I know he's a big supporter of the resources sector and what it provides for our country. I, too, would like to recognise the mayor of Laverton. We're building a road, The Outback Way, to his little town. It'll be the third sealed road across our continent. It's a fantastic project to develop our nation. As a government, we also support the development of our nation through support for the resources sector.

Today, in the limited time I have, I want to speak about not just all the facts and figures that we often quote about what the resources sector provides—the taxes, the royalties and the exports—but also the people who are in the resources sector. Earlier today I gave an address to the Press Club where I highlighted a few stories of people. I met a young lady called Alicia at the Peak Downs coalmine in Central Queensland last year. She is a young graduate who got her start in life with BHP when she moved up to Dysart from Brisbane. Elizabeth, who runs a company called Gekko Systems, literally started her company in her garage. I caught up with her the other week in Toronto, where she's selling gold-processing technology to the world. It's a world leader.

The resources sector gives so many opportunities for Australians to compete on the world stage. Roger, who manages the Great Keppel Island Hideaway resort, is a third-generation coalminer. He is proud of the coal industry, but he's now in the tourism sector. He also loves the reef, and he understands that a strong resources sector in Central Queensland is needed to get people across to the islands to enjoy the reef, and spend good money doing so. Finally, Patrick is a native title owner. He's a representative of the Wangan and Jagalingou peoples. He's one of nearly 300 Wangan and Jagalingou people who turned up at a meeting almost two years ago today and supported the Adani mine 294-1. We also back how the resources sector can fulfil the promise we've made to first Australians to give them a better life.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Brockman, a supplementary question.

Slade Brockman (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister, what is the future for the coal sector in Australia?

Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) Share this | Link to 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.

Scott Ryan (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Brockman, a final supplementary question.

Slade Brockman (WA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What further opportunities are there for Australia when it comes to other minerals, such as rare earths?

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

It is an exciting time for the resources sector as a whole. Never before in history have the economy and our livelihoods relied on the mining industry more than today. It's not just for energy, through oil or gas; it's not just through bulk commodities like iron ore or traditional hard rock metals like copper, zinc or nickel; there are a whole list of minerals that now are embodied in technology like that laptop there, which has lots of critical minerals. This phone here has heaps of rare earths in it. It's only because of those rare earths that we can enjoy all the mod cons of a modern society—including, I see, the Greens over there; they've got a few computers and phones. There's an iPad there for Senator Richard Di Natale. They wouldn't exist but for the mining industry. That's why we need to support it. That's why we support developing our critical minerals industry in Australia. That's why we've invested another $50 million today in a new CRC to develop new techniques to find new minerals so we can continue to use iPads, laptops and phones all around the world.