Natasha Griggs (Solomon, Country Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Resources, Energy and Northern Australia. Will the minister update the House on the investment that is taking place in the Australian energy sector and how this is contributing to domestic economic growth, particularly in the electorate of Solomon?

Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party, Minister for Resources, Energy and Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I acknowledge the hardworking, energetic and dynamic member for Solomon and the great contribution she makes to the Northern Territory and to the members of her electorate.

Mr Snowdon interjecting—

Tony Smith (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Lingiari is warned.

Josh Frydenberg (Kooyong, Liberal Party, Minister for Resources, Energy and Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In global energy markets, Australia plays a dominant role. Australia is the second largest exporter of coal in the world. We have the largest low-cost uranium reserves in the world and, by 2020, Australia will be the largest exporter of LNG in the world, overtaking Qatar. With the International Energy Agency expecting the global energy demand will increase by a third by 2040, demand globally for Australia's energy exports will only increase. This is good news for the Australian economy because last year we saw more than $70 billion worth of export income earned from our energy exports. We saw more than $200 billion worth of investment in energy infrastructure here in Australia and we saw more than 100,000 people employed in the Australian energy sector. But it is also good news for people around the world because there are more than one billion people in the world without access to electricity and Australia's energy exports help lift them out of energy poverty, producing better educational, health as well as quality-of-life outcomes.

Just last week, in the member for Flynn's electorate, we had the first shipment of LNG from the Gladstone LNG project. The member for Groom, who was an outstanding minister for resources, was present there to see the product of his hard work.

That project is one of three—$80 billion worth of investment in Queensland's LNG sector. Just a couple of weeks ago I was with the member for Solomon in her electorate to see the $50 billion Ichthys LNG project, which has provided more than 6,000 local jobs and also, by the time of its completion, will provide around 10 per cent of Japan's gas demand. To give you a sense of the scale of that project, I was told that when they built the Eiffel Tower they used 7½ thousand tonnes of steel, but for the pipeline alone for the Ichthys project they used 750,000 tonnes of steel. This gives you a sense of the scale and the complexity of this engineering feat being undertaken by Australians here in Australia.

The Turnbull government stands ready to create the right environment for more investment, be it from Japan, China or anywhere else, in our vibrant energy sector which creates hundreds of thousands of jobs for Australians and those around the world.