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Legislative Council - Fifty-Second Parliament, First Session (52-1)
2010-11-24 Daily Xml
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Question Time

MINING INDUSTRY

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY (Leader of the Opposition) (14:24): I seek leave to make a brief explanation before asking the Minister for Mineral Resources Development a question about the minerals resources sector and, in particular, the Digging Deep document that members would have received this week.

Leave granted.

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: At lunch today, Queensland Premier Anna Bligh—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. D.W. RIDGWAY: Chuck them out, will you, Mr President? At lunch today, Queensland Premier Anna Bligh launched a new website showing how much the mineral and energy resources sector is worth to the Sunshine State. The sector accounts for 21 per cent of Queensland's economy, 13 per cent of Queensland's total employment, 23 per cent of Brisbane's total employment and, within 10 years, will pay more than $6 billion in annual royalties.

According to the research, all Queenslanders have a stake in their resources sector at $707 a second; that is how much the sector already spends on goods and services from local businesses, wages and salaries to its Queensland employees and voluntary contributions to the Queensland communities. My questions to the minister are:

1. In South Australia, what is the value of the mineral and energy resources sector's community contributions?

2. What did it cost South Australian taxpayers to produce this glossy, almost 40-page advertisement claiming widespread social benefits of mining in South Australia, and why is this advertisement called a Social Inclusion Initiative?

3. If this document has been prepared by the South Australian Social Inclusion Board, why does it contains the following disclaimer? It states:

No responsibility is accepted by the minister or the department for any errors or omissions contained within this publication and no liability will be accepted for loss or damage arising from the reliance upon any information in this publication.

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY (Minister for Mineral Resources Development, Minister for Urban Development and Planning, Minister for Industrial Relations, Minister Assisting the Premier in Public Sector Management) (14:26): In relation to the latter, I imagine that is a standard disclaimer that is put in most documents.

The Hon. D.W. Ridgway interjecting:

The Hon. P. HOLLOWAY: It is not that at all. It is a standard disclaimer that one would put in both government and private publications. In relation to the document that the honourable member has referred to, the reason that it has involved the Social Inclusion Unit was that the Premier announced that he had asked the Social Inclusion Unit, Monsignor Cappo in particular, to do some work on it to ensure that, with the growing mining sector which we have in this state—and it is now the largest export sector in the state, having reached that level—it is important that we ensure that the benefits of the growing mining industry are spread across the community. It was exactly for that reason that the government had requested this particular work.

During the budget, the government has taken the decision to increase the return from the mining industry through royalties. Our royalties are still more than competitive with those in any other state. We still have some advantages, like the preferential rate of royalty in the start-up years (the first five years) of a mine. In other respects, those mineral royalties are competitive, but we have moved to increase the return. It is also important that the mining industry not only contributes to the community at large—and Indigenous communities, since much of the mineral resources are located in remote areas—but also that the good work that is being done by the industry should be recognised.

I think it is only appropriate that we should recognise those mining companies such as OZ Minerals and the Beverley uranium mine and others which have a very high level of Indigenous employment and provide significant benefits to the local community. There is no doubt, if one looks at a local community like Cooper Pedy, that it has benefited enormously from the growth of the mining industry in that area as, indeed, such cities such as Port Augusta and Whyalla do from their service industries for the mining industry.

The mining industry, while its direct employment is relatively small, because of the wealth of that industry it does generate a significant multiplier effect throughout the community. It is important that, as I said, the contribution of the mining industry to the community be acknowledged but also that we ensure that the industry does give a return across the community.

As I have said, the mining industry will often really be the only source of employment for Indigenous communities in many of the remote parts of the country. I mentioned Beverley and Oz Minerals as having particularly good records in relation to Indigenous employment, and I should mention Iluka as well because, with its mineral sands mine on the Far West Coast year Yalata, it also has a very high level of Indigenous employment. As for the actual cost of the report, I will have to refer that to my colleague. It was done through that particular unit and not through my department, so I will seek information on that part of the question.

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