Jonathon Duniam (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Forestry and Fisheries) Share this | Hansard source

The coal industry is far from unviable. Coal continues to be the mainstay of many regional economies and a major driver of exports and the Australian economy. Companies are continuing to invest in new coal projects, and coal was the largest total export earner in 2018, valued at $67 billion. The International Energy Agency's World energy outlook 2018 predicts that global coal demand will grow out to 2040 by 1.6 per cent and that Australia will have a growing share of that trade. The coal industry employed 53,300 Australians in 2017-18 and pays more than $5 billion annually in royalties.