PERTH (miningweekly.com) – Federal Resources Minister Matt Canavan has called on the Australian resources sector to retain its international competitiveness.

“In the last 20 years, we have seen remarkable growth in the resources sector. We have doubled the number of people working in mining today than we did before the mining boom.

“The mining sector regularly contributes over A$20-billion in corporate taxation, second to only financial services and it is our biggest export industry accounting for 57% of our exports as a nation,” Canavan said at the International Mining and Resources Conference in Melbourne.

“And while there are enormous opportunities to come, we are facing the greatest competitive threat we have faced in the previous 50 years.”

It was with this competitiveness in mind that the federal government launched the Resources 2030 Taskforce earlier this year to help come up with an agenda to grow these opportunities and to make sure that Australian maintained its spot as the world’s best resources nation.

The Taskforce made 29 recommendations to the government, which will use them to develop a National Resources Statement, to guide resources policy for the next decade.

While the details are still being “fleshed out”, the statement will cover five major themes, including: maintaining the attractiveness of Australia as a resources investment destination, facilitating the opening of new opportunities, instilling and maintaining a culture of best practice particularly with emphasis on environmental performance, making sure that Australian’s have access to good, high-paying, secure jobs, and building healthy communities near mining operations.

Canavan said the Resource Statement, which should be delivered by the end of the year, will have a particular focus on providing opportunities and long-term prosperity for Indigenous Australians.

“So many of the current and most likely future mining activities in Australia are close in proximity to some of our most disadvantaged areas. There is not any industry or opportunity we have as a nation that can benefit these communities as much as the mining can.

“We shouldn’t be complacent. It’s not going to happen automatically - and probably hasn’t always been delivered in the history of the industry - but we should take pride that in recent times the industry has delivered tangible benefits to Indigenous people through the delivery of mining,” finished Canavan.