Martin Ferguson (Batman, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Resources and Energy) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Capricornia for the question. As a member representing central Queensland, she understands the importance of the resources sector and of us as a nation consolidating the current investment pipeline. On that note, I am pleased to advise the House that despite a dramatic drop in commodity prices over the last 12 months—in actual fact a bigger drop than any of us expected—we have been able to further consolidate the huge amount of capital investment in Australia at the moment, right across the resources and petroleum sectors. I must say, this is exceptionally important. It goes to the heart of what this government is about. It is about jobs and investment and strengthening the underpinnings of the Australian economy, which is what the Australian community actually expects us to be debating and talking about on a regular basis in this House.

In that context, could I remind the House, as the Treasurer said today, that we now have in the resources and petroleum sector $268.4 billion committed in capital investment currently under construction in Australia. That represents 87 major projects. Importantly, 51 of those projects are in the minerals sector, 18 in the gas and petroleum sector and a further 18 in infrastructure. Perhaps more importantly, 11 of those projects are actually megaprojects, representing investment of more than $5 billion each. It is interesting to note that, of the 10 major LNG projects under construction in the global community at the moment, seven are under construction in Australia, to the tune of about $170 billion—

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