PERTH (miningweekly.com) – The mining industry remains an important sector for employment, federal Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia Keith Pitt said, pointing to a big increase in the number of Australians employed in the sector.
Pitt said the figures were a testament to how crucial the resources industry had been to Australia in the Covid recovery.
“The number of people employed in mining jumped by 22 000, or nearly 10%, in the three months to November last year, providing jobs for 26 000 Australians,” Pitt said.
“Coal mining was the standout during the quarter, jumping by 25% to employ an extra 11 000 people and a total of 62 000 across the country. It’s also a 23% increase over the year and is the most number of Australians employed in the sector since 2012, which is a phenomenal result and hardly an indication of an industry in decline as some activists suggest,” Pitt said.
“Encouragingly, the recovery in oil prices in the second half of last year saw employment in the oil and gas sector increase by 13 000.”
The Minister noted that over one-million Australians were also employed indirectly by the resources sector in everything from technical support to local corner shops.
“The resources sector has delivered for Australia at a time we needed, and I thank all in the industry who’ve kept the production lines running without skipping a beat to overcome the challenges of the global Covid-19 pandemic,” Pitt said.