Meryl Swanson (Paterson, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I make no secret of the fact that I am a proud supporter of the mining and resources sector. I'm also the proud daughter of a coalminer, and I'm even prouder to be the member for a resource-rich region.

Recently I had the great pleasure of touring Western Australia's magnificent Pilbara region on a tour organised by the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia. The delegation of MPs from state and federal parliaments, and industry representatives from across the resources sector, came together to learn more about the commitment the mining and resources sector has to meaningful partnerships with our First Nations people. We wanted to familiarise ourselves with the efficiencies of the industry and, importantly, the contribution it is making not only to our economy but, quite frankly, to the future for all of us.

The Pilbara region of north Western Australia extends south from the De Grey River to the Ashburton River, and as far inland as 720 kilometres. This magnificent region is not only rich in Aboriginal cultural heritage but also a logistical marvel in the way that it coordinates vast distances with the resource sector that works within these magnificent and vast landscapes. You really cannot get it until you take it in with your own eyes. Flying across the Wheatbelt of Western Australia was a tapestry for the eyes, to say the least. It was just so incredible.

More than 157,700 people are employed in Western Australian mining and resources, with the sector representing more than 45 per cent of employment in the Pilbara region alone. This region is home to 58,000 people and supports 63,500 jobs, with many people flying in to go to work. That's why those figures are somewhat different.

I thank the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia and congratulate them on such a well-organised and coordinated tour. It was no mean feat. It was headed up by their dynamic and recently appointed CEO, Rebecca Tomkinson. Rebecca ran the Royal Flying Doctor Service in Western Australia before she took up the role with the Chamber of Minerals and Energy. She is breaking down barriers and she is a force of nature, and I know that she will bring with her some of that critical time-management and logistical knowhow that is so imperative in the Royal Flying Doctor Service to the resources sector, not only for Western Australia but also for Australia more broadly. Rebecca and her team are building more new foundations for industry and ensuring the government has a better understanding of the critical roles the sector plays in our national economy—and, indeed, in the state economy of Western Australia. I want to thank the whole team at CME, but make special mention of Adrienne LaBombard, Roannah Wade, Susan Cull and Keelie Hoskin, who helped make the trip happen.

I was also delighted to join my colleague and friend Madeleine King, the Minister for Resources, for some of the trip, to see firsthand her home state and the industry that she's so passionate about representing. During our three-day tour of key resources operations we visited Chevron on Barrow Island, which is a class A nature reserve and quite an incredible LNG facility, Rio Tinto, Woodside, Mineral Resources, FMG and BHP.

Reconciliation and respect for the land are continuous topics and, to be frank, the mining industry understands that there is a long way to go, and that they need to do much more than just mine coal and fossil fuels. But they're doing a good job of understanding where the improvements need to be made.

We also went to see Wodgina, which is a lithium mine, and it was incredible as well. Minerals like lithium and iron ore are a major part of our future and continue to contribute to new and exciting technologies. It's also important that people understand this, and I think that, as parliamentarians, we haven't supported these industries as well as we could have. I want to be the first one to put up my hand and say that we all need to be doing more to understand that these technologies that we all love—our iPads, our mobile phones and all of the things that are happening around the globe—come to us because of minerals. Whether it be coal, iron ore, lithium, antimony—all of the things that we see on the periodic table—it just can't happen without those minerals that are extracted from the earth. I know how people categorise mining; they want to lump it into 'just digging stuff up and shipping it out'. Let me tell you, that extraction of those critical minerals and fossil fuels is how our modern, sophisticated society is able to function the way it does—make no mistake about that. So I get really uptight when people say: 'We want to keep coal in the ground,' and, 'We don't want to have gas,' and, 'We don't want to do this.' If we're not doing those things, we'd better switch off the lights, put out the cat and go home, because, quite frankly, it will all be over.

I'm very grateful to those stakeholders for hosting us and showing us their impressive operations as well as briefing us on their continued commitment to our First Nations people. I was especially delighted to learn about the continued successes of Indigenous employment schemes and see the benefits of these corporate citizens investing back into our communities out in the Pilbara. Fifteen per cent of the Pilbara's population comprises Aboriginal or Torres Strait Islander people, with many Pilbara communities facing really complex social, housing, health and education challenges. Fortunately, the resources sector is stepping up in this way. For many, many decades, it has been stepping up, in fact, to invest more in social programs and infrastructure to help tackle some of these really difficult socioeconomic challenges. I commend the work being done and acknowledge the passion and commitment of the many in this region to better relationships to embrace a brighter future for our First Nations communities. They're working out there. They're living out there. It is just so meaningful that our First Nations people and these organisations and companies have such a great connection.

Furthering my understanding of some of our country's biggest operators just reinforced for me the continued importance of mining and petroleum exports and the role they have in our economic recovery for the years to come. It's such an important thing. The annual economic output of the Pilbara was $106 billion in the last decade. That's between the 2011-12 and 2020-21 financial years. I'll just say that figure again: $106 billion in 10 years. Let it sink in. There are many schools, hospitals and roads that we all use that have been funded from the resources sector.

The mining industry has also contributed $254 billion in company taxes and royalties. That's $142 billion in taxes and $112 billion in royalties. For context, total spending on health in 2019-20 was estimated to be $81 billion; total spending on the NDIS costs around $22 billion a year; and total spending on the age pension and income support for senior Australians costs just over $50 billion annually. That's just putting some of those numbers coming out of the resources sector into context for you. So it is clear that, if we want to have things like the age pension and the NDIS and all of those other fabulous services that so many Australians so richly deserve and depend upon, then we have to find the money from somewhere, and it's the resources sector that is providing much of this money. So, before we go knocking them, we need to be really clear that we're not biting off the hand that's feeding us. It's clear by comparison that the economics of Australian mining, just in the Pilbara alone, are invaluable to our nation's prosperity.

The mining and energy sector is a vital part of my own electorate, and I am always seeking ways to better understand the technologies, the research, the workforce and both the opportunities in it and the challenges that the industry faces. This experience has reinforced my admiration for the sector and the individuals that make it happen. My electorate of Paterson plays a major role in keeping the lights on in my home state of New South Wales, and for that I am forever grateful. And I am forever grateful to those men and women who, every day, put on their gear and go down a coal mine, an iron ore mine, a lithium mine or whatever mine it is and draw up our resources: thank you.