Latest national accounts figures have again revealed how important the resources sector is to the Australian economy through the global coronavirus pandemic.

Resources, Water and Northern Australia Minister Keith Pitt said the industry is proving more than resilient.

“The mining industry bucked the national trend to see a 0.2% increase in output during the June quarter, which is also a 1.1% rise on the same period last year,” he said.

Keith Pitt.

“Encouragingly, mining investment also rose by 1.3% on the previous quarter, and up by almost 8% on the previous year, which is a good indication of the confidence in the Australian resources sector, despite the impact of COVID-19.

“It continues to directly employ more than 200,000 Australians and supports the jobs of well over a million others.

“While it is devastating to see the nationwide job losses caused by the impact of the coronavirus, we will get to the other side of this crisis and resources is well-placed to help lead our economic recovery.

“It will be all about job creation as emerge from the pandemic and mining will be in a good position to do just that, particularly for regional Australia.

“The extra measures the resources industry have taken to keep workers and communities safe and healthy is paying dividends for Australia now, and will pay even greater dividends when we reach the other side of the COVID-19 pandemic.”

 

 

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