A strong mining sector means a strong NSW, giving $2 billion a year in royalty taxes

With the clock counting down to the State Election, Labor and the Coalition have promised voters they will spend billions on projects right across NSW. But where will ther find the money to fund those projects, asks the NSW Minerals Council.

With the clock counting down to the NSW election, Labor and the Coalition have launched their campaigns promising voters they will spend billions on projects right across NSW.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian launched her campaign with a range of big promises on schools, hospitals and childcare, including $1.3 billion for a new hospital at Bankstown and an extra $917 million to build eight new schools and upgrade another 31.

Across town, Labor Leader Michael Daley was also splashing the cash, with a range of promises including a commitment to invest more than $2 billion on public schools.

Premier Gladys Berejiklian has made big promises on schools, hospitals and childcare Picture: AAP

Opposition Leader Michael Daley’s campaign includes a pledge of $2 billion for public schools. Picture: AAP

And while mining issues have not featured highly during this election campaign, whoever wins will find it much harder to deliver these big-spending commitments without the billions in revenue the NSW mining sector delivers to the state in mining royalty taxes each year.

Our NSW mining sector provides more than $2 billion a year in mining royalty taxes and is expected to provide more than $8 billion over the next four years.

That’s enough to pay for the Coalition’s commitment of $780 million for the John Hunter Hospital in Newcastle, the $1.3 billion for the Bankstown-Lidcombe Hospital in Sydney and the $470 million for a new hospital in Maitland.

Alternatively, mining royalties are enough to pay for the Coalition’s entire commitment to build the North South Rail Line and to build the new M12 Motorway. Mining royalties could also pay for Labor’s $1 billion plan to build and upgrade water infrastructure across NSW, as well as pay for Labor’s plan to invest more than $2 billion in public schools across NSW.

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Mining in NSW is currently in a ‘sweet spot’ with high commodity prices, record levels of exports and increasing demand for our resources from traditional and emerging markets. This is generating more investment, more opportunity and more jobs for the state.

The NSW Minerals Council recently released our Economic Impact Survey for the 2017/18 financial year, which showed that mining had delivered almost 1500 more jobs in NSW than the previous year, nearly 500 more businesses supplying the mining industry than in the previous year and that, all up, mining injected $10.7 billion into the NSW economy.

The good news for NSW is that these positive conditions are set to continue.

The most recent report from the independent International Energy Agency (IEA) has forecast strong growth in Asian demand for our coal through to 2040.

This presents growing opportunities for the state’s coal mining sector, including our high-quality thermal coal as well as metallurgical coal used for making steel.

Greens MP David Shoebridge. The Greens have promised to end coal mining in 10 years. Picture: AAP

There’s also growing demand for metals mined in NSW, including copper, nickel and cobalt — essential for meeting the growing global demand for electric vehicles and battery technology. Whoever wins the next election will need a strong mining sector to continue to deliver more jobs, more spending, and more royalties to help fund their campaign promises.

Meanwhile there’s one party contesting this election who wants to end all of this.

The campaign promises of the NSW Greens would cripple some of NSW’s most important industries including agriculture and mining with policies that would see thousands of jobs lost and communities in regional NSW turned into ghost towns.

The Greens have promised to end coal mining in 10 years, killing off more than 20,000 direct jobs and destroying NSW’s most valuable export industry.

The Greens are also promising to attack our farmers while they’re dealing with drought across rural NSW, by taking away farmers’ ability to clear vegetation on their own land, and encouraging animal rights activists to invade NSW farms.

While the Greens don’t have enough support to govern in their own right the NSW election is on a knife edge.

This means there’s a risk that the Greens could end up with the balance of power and deciding who wins government. This could mean the Greens’ job destroying policies will become a terrible reality.

If we want a strong economy, strong regional communities, flourishing businesses and more jobs in NSW we can’t afford a government controlled by the Greens.

Stephen Galilee is CEO, NSW Minerals Council