Resources lifting Queensland’s prosperity Ian Macfarlane, Queensland Resources Council
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hen it comes to the resources sector in Queensland, the economic influence spans thousands of kilometres in delivering jobs and investment. This was again highlighted with the release of the Queensland Resources Council’s (QRC) economic contribution data for 2018-19 which found the sector supported more than 372,500 jobs and invested $74.3 billion into the state’s economy.
You can’t overestimate the importance of a sector which powers employment on this scale. Resource jobs are not just highly paid, but they are long term jobs including in high tech fields. Directly the sector employed 52,295 people which is a lot of truck drivers, diesel fitters, environmental scientists and port workers. While there has been significant international headwinds over the past 12 months which have had an impact on 6
BBMC Yearbook 2019
trade exposed industries, the resources sector was still able to account for one in five dollars in Queensland’s economy and one in every seven jobs.
sector adheres to some of the strictest environmental laws in the world and prides itself on its ability to extract resource responsibly.
Every Queenslander – regardless of where they call home – shares in the wealth of the sector through the royalty taxes it pays to the State Government. This year alone those royalty taxes are worth over $5.4 billion to the State Budget. These royalties provide funding for new hospitals, police stations and schools, or the equivalent wages of 100,000 teachers or 98,000 police, 86,000 nurses.
Regional Advocacy
It’s important our industry stays ahead of the pack internationally by competing for every contract, innovating to stay globally competitive, and earning the support of our governments, and the people who elect them. Our coking coal will continue to provide an essential ingredient into steel making, our gas will feed the energy needs of Asia and Europe while our alumina, bauxite, copper, gold, lead, mineral sands, silver and zinc will be much sought after in a rapidly urbanising Asia. Something that may surprise people is that all the industry’s economic contributions are achieved while operating within a strict environmental management framework and using only 0.1% of Queensland’s land mass. Our
This year we saw both the south east of Queensland and the regions come together to support the resources sector and resources communities. In regional Queensland the Go Galilee campaign galvanised mining communities in a show of solidarity for the economic benefits of opening the Galilee Basin to mining. The campaign received significant media attention with front pages supporting the campaign in the local papers of Rockhampton, Mackay and Townsville. Figures from the Office of the Chief Economist show that if the six major coal projects in the Galilee Basin were to proceed they would create 13,900 construction jobs and 12,803 jobs during operations. The Go Galilee campaign was a significant contributor during the Federal election, with the seats of Dawson, Townsville and Capricornia going towards candidates who were very vocal in their support of the campaign. Prime Minister Scott Morrison returned the Coalition Government to power with the help of these seats and it probably came as no surprise when he said “how good is Queensland?!” in his victory speech.
