Resources Sector

The Hon. D.C. VAN HOLST PELLEKAAN (Stuart—Minister for Energy and Mining) (15:16): I rise today to express my thanks to and my confidence in the resources industry for the very difficult, very challenging, very important and very good work that is being done at the moment. I also thank the staff in the Department for Energy and Mining, who are working incredibly closely with people in the private sector and resources industry.

The resources industry is extremely important to South Australia. It is one of our most important industries with regard to its contribution to our state over the last 150 or so years, its contribution at the moment and also its opportunity to grow very significantly into the future. Last year, we received just a fraction under $7 billion worth of contribution to our economy from the resources sector. Fifty per cent of our exports from South Australia are from the resources industry, which employs 22,000 people in South Australia.

We think of the resources industry primarily in terms of mining and petroleum. In South Australia, of the many companies we think perhaps initially of BHP and OZ Minerals or of Santos and Beach Energy, but the resources industry includes many much smaller companies. It includes the Mining Equipment Technical Services (METS) sector in South Australia, which is a very vibrant, important and growing sector as well.

Our government believes that the resources industry is an essential service during this COVID-19 pandemic, a very, very challenging period. It is an essential service for many reasons. I particularly want to highlight the good work that the resources sector is doing with regard to providing safe workplaces. By 'safe', I do not mean the traditional concept, which is still very important in relation to worker safety, environmental safety and a traditional culture of safety. At the moment, safety is also very much focused on non-transmission of this insidious, infectious disease.

The resources industry is doing everything it possibly can at all its offices, at all its workplaces, in all its transport situations and many other areas to make sure that this disease is not transmitted through its workplaces. As long as it is successful in that through its own endeavours, with the support of the government and the support of the Department for Energy and Mining, and as long as we are successful together in this it will be able to continue to operate.

This industry has done an outstanding job reducing its need for interstate travel, which understandably is a concern these days. So when we say that it is an essential service—that is, interstate travel for essential workers is allowed without the requirement for a 14-day self isolation period when crossing the border and coming into South Australia or some other states—we do that with the knowledge that the industry is actually significantly reducing the number of people that it is asking to cross those borders.

In South Australia's case, the most recent numbers I have received are a 62 per cent reduction from fly-in fly-out and drive-in drive-out workers into South Australia previously to what is required now, and I know that that has reduced even further. This industry is doing everything it possibly can to operate responsibly in this very difficult time. Quite appropriately, with a fair dose of self-interest, of course these companies want to keep operating so that they can continue to be sustainable and profitable, and that is entirely appropriate.

The government's interest in them continuing to operate is also with regard to self-interest on behalf of the people of South Australia because, if we can keep these companies in this industry working safely and successfully throughout this very difficult time, then we will not have to have the same sort of build up after the COVID-19 times. We want the resources industry to be able to continue to employ as many of those 22,000 South Australians as possible through this time and more and more after this time. The resources industry is a mainstay that needs to be supported and we are very glad to work with it through this period.