Seizing the opportunities in a bright future The Hon. Keith Pitt MP, Federal Minister for Resources and Water
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ustralia’s resources sector performed heroically throughout 2021, in the face of the COVID-19 pandemic, and is showing no signs of stopping any time soon. After resources export earnings hit a record $310 billion in 2020-21, they are tipped go even higher to hit $349 billion this financial year. Already this financial year, figures show our abundant resources are the gifts that keep on giving. The latest trade data from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show total resources and energy exports were $95.9 billion for the three months to September 2021, which is 50% higher than for the same period last year. And while iron ore’s incredibly strong run cools, soaring demand for our coal and liquefied natural gas is fuelling a surge in export revenues. Coal has been an outstanding performer. Exports climbed to $16.3 billion in the most recent quarter, up a staggering 80% on the same period last year. Liquefied natural gas exports were $13.9 billion for the quarter to September 2021, which was 130% more than for the same period last year. 18
BBMC Yearbook 2021
This means more jobs and more opportunities for Australia, particularly in our regions. Much of this success is due to the hard-working people of the sector, who we must thank for their dedication throughout the pandemic. And the number of Australians employed in resources has grown too, reaching about 265,000 (as of September 2021). About half are living outside our capital cities. The flow-on benefits don’t stop there. Australia’s mining equipment, technology and services companies are demonstrating similar success. In the last decade and a half, METS has doubled in size to employ around 300,000 Australians – adding tens of billions of dollars to the economy each year. Resources are a mainstay of the national economy, and so important to our regions. They are not just exports and jobs. A Deloitte Access Economics report commissioned by the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) estimates royalties from resources exports to be worth over $15 billion in 2019-20, which enable our state governments to pay for the hospitals, roads and schools and all the services we rely on. The same report estimates that in 201920, company tax for the resource and energy sector represented almost 30% of total company tax collected in Australia. That’s $24.2 billion worth of taxation to support the Australian way of life.
Photo: Betty Peter Turnbull Seeney
Resources development across the country is vital. That’s why the Government is standing shoulder to shoulder with the sector in maximising opportunities. This past year, the Government committed $20.1 million to a Global Resources Strategy to identify and seize new market opportunities and enable trade, including for all-important critical minerals. The Government will continue to support new resources development, including opening up new basins. Work to explore five key regions for gas and other resources under our Strategic Basin Plans Program is on track. We recently released the North Bowen and Galilee Strategic Basin Plan, with $20.7 million to help crack the gas potential as well as new jobs and wealth in Central Queensland. The potential is enormous – worth billions of dollars – and it is estimated more than 5,000 new jobs can be created in this region from gas development alone. And we published a National Resources Workforce Strategy to show how we are looking to secure the workforce and encouraging Australians to take up skills, training and careers in the sector. Technology remains an integral part of future jobs and new growth. Competitive and sustainable operations rely on us staying on the cutting edge, with funding
