Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator O'Sullivan for his question. He is a great supporter of the great Queensland coal industry. The coal industry is in rude health. It is doing very well. It is exporting record amounts of wealth for our country. It remains the second highest export for our nation. It remains an industry that drives wealth, creates jobs and creates money for tax revenue for all our services that we provide in this place. It is exporting record amounts: around 400 million tonnes of coal is now exported from this country. It is up from 230 million tonnes 10 years ago.

This year prices have been much higher for coal as well, which is a great thing for our nation, given it is our second highest export. It is a great thing for our terms of trade and a great thing for our national income. Metallurgical coal prices have, amazingly, quadrupled over the past year, and thermal coal prices have more than doubled as well. Our coal industry remains strong, and that is a good thing for Australia and a particularly good thing for those regions that rely on the coal industry for many jobs.

Of course, coal still provides the vast majority of electricity in this country. As families and people put up their Christmas lights this year, more than half of that electricity on average around the country will be provided by coal. That will fire those lights. And when Santa comes along looking for houses to land at, Santa will be guided by electricity that is provided by the coal industry. The coal industry will help bring Christmas joy to many families around this country. Indeed, in eastern Australia more than 75 per cent of our electricity through the National Electricity Market will be provided by coal. Many people work in industries that rely on access to cheap, base load power and so need coal. Workers at Boyne Island smelters, near where I live in Gladstone, need that industry. Workers at Alcoa in Portland in Victoria need that industry. So many families will be able to have good Christmases with good paying jobs thanks to the coal industry in this nation.