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

I thank Senator Martin for his question. It's a bit easier to hear him now in his new position in the chamber! I congratulate him on joining the National Party, a great party that defends the resources sector and defends the jobs that come from these industries that provide wealth for Australia. I also recognise the strong history of the Tasmanian resources industry. It's had some of the biggest and best minds in our history, and it has helped power their economic development over the years.

The mining sector is also continuing to power the economic development of Australia as a whole. In the past fortnight the economic growth figures came down, which showed a one per cent increase in quarter-on-quarter growth and a 3.1 per cent increase from March last year. As the ABS's chief economist, Bruce Hockman, said:

Growth in exports accounted for half the growth in GDP, and reflected strength in exports of mining commodities.

In the March quarter, mining made up 56.6 per cent of Australia's total exports. Of that, 19.2 per cent was coal, 13.5 per cent were oil and gas and 23.2 per cent was ore mining. This is incredibly important to thousands of jobs around Australia. Over 200,000 people are now employed in the mining sector, more than double what it was before the mining boom. It is great to see the continued strength of demand for Australian coal, some of the best quality, cleanest coal in the world. It's continuing to be in rude demand right across the globe. Coal prices at the moment are up to places they haven't been since the mining boom. The ABS commented, in reporting the results:

This quarter featured the biggest rise in Coal Mining since September quarter 2014 due to strong demand for thermal coal.

This is good news for Australia. It is good news for the thousands of people who rely on a strong coalmining sector for their jobs and their futures.