Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Minister, it is a pleasure to see you here in the chamber. As you know, it could be argued that the resources industry has been the backbone of Australia's economy for the last decade or so. At least, it is inarguable that it has made an extraordinary contribution to our export earnings. In my state of Western Australia particularly the impact of the iron ore and the oil and gas industries has been transformational. I would like to note your keen interest in the Western Australian resource sector and industry over the many years that you have been in parliament. I heard you compliment the member for Brand and the previous minister, Martin Ferguson, both of whom I considered to be friends of the resource sector in Western Australia, but unfortunately their party at the time introduced the mining tax and displayed their party's overall attitude towards the mining and resource sector in Western Australia.

I noted that in your previous answer to the member for Eden-Monaro you spoke about electricity prices. I thought the minister might be interested to know that in my previous life as a commercial air conditioning supplier, one of the things we tried to introduce into Australia in the 1980s was an economy cycle for package equipment on shopping centres. Unfortunately, at that particular stage, electricity prices were so cheap that there would have been a seven-year turnaround before they could actually recover the cost of the economy cycle system. Many employers would say it was easier to reduce staff levels than it was to look at reducing electricity costs because it was not a high cost for the companies at that particular time.

As I said, in my state of Western Australia, the impact of the iron ore and the oil and gas industries in particular has been transformational. As we speak, the world's first floating LNG plant is under construction prior to its deployment off the coast of Western Australia. This exciting new technology will render recoverable smaller and/or more distant resources that were previously quarantined by these limitations. Meanwhile, on the east coast, coal has continued to generate massive export earnings and we have recently seen the first of three new LNG plants on Queensland's Curtis Island commence exporting. I know you probably have an even deeper interest in Queensland than you do in Western Australia, but as the federal minister I guess your attention has to be in all states.

These plants sourcing their feedstock from coal seam gas are also pioneering, world first, and further demonstrate the confidence that industry has in Australia as an investment destination. However, the resources industry's cyclical nature has been clearly evident over the past decade, with an enormous rise in commodity prices and a spate of major capital projects in the LNG, coal and iron ore industries in particular. This boom period has now clearly passed and those prices have dropped very significantly, just as the project construction process is concluding, along with the jobs of those engaged to give effect to it.

Minister, what is your view on the short- and medium-term prospects for Australia's resources industry? What actions is the government taking and/or planning to take through this budget, or any other government measures, to ameliorate the adverse impacts of these changes? Is there a future for Australia's coal industry given the increased intensity across the world of anti-coal activism, not only among its traditional critics but also from the investment community?

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