MCA CEO Tania Constable calls for school lessons on mining, energy
The Minerals Council of Australia chief says school kids are wrongly being taught that ‘coal is bad’ and more balance is needed so they learn about energy security too.
Australian schools need to pay more attention to issues of energy security and the importance of the mining industry, according to the chief executive of the Minerals Council of Australia, Tania Constable.
Speaking at The Australian’s Energy Nation forum in Sydney, she said school children were being taught that “coal is bad” and was not clean.
She said the debate in schools had focused on climate change and criticizing coal with less focus on the importance of countries having energy security and the importance of the mining industry for the economy.
“There’s been an absolute emphasis on climate change (in schools) which is understandable,” she said.
“But we haven’t had the balance (about the importance) of energy security,” she said.
“We once had a climate change and an energy security discussion. Now the debate has moved almost totally to climate change.”
Ms Constable said she was not advocating that there be any slow down in the energy transition process.
“We should be full throttle on getting clean energy in the system, but we have to have reliable, cost effective energy for electricity for energy uses and businesses.”
Ms Constable said there was a “strong view amongst teachers that coal is an old energy, that it is not clean and that it is disappearing.”
But she said metallurgical coal was needed to make steel along with iron ore.
“Ninety per cent of what we are producing is for export purposes.”
“A lot of that is going into the Asian region which is going to need coal for a long time to come as it industrialises.”
She said geology had disappeared from the curriculum in many schools across Australia.
“Geology, or earth sciences, was once taught very actively in schools,” she said.
“It’s not being taught (much) today.”
She said children needed to know more about the mining industry and its long term importance to the Australian economy.
“That’s fundamental for the long term future of the mining industry,” she said.
“We need to make sure that from small children right through to adults there is the right information (available) and the opportunity for it to be part of our curriculum.
“That would produce a better result for Australia, where we have a competitive advantage in our mining industry.”
Ms Constable said she believed there had been more people recently actively speaking about the importance of the mining industry particularly in the wake of the Russia-Ukraine war and the war in the Middle East.
“We have seen a rebalance occurring,” she said.
“There have been more courageous people standing up and saying let’s have a discussion about getting different energy sources in the system and how do we bring down costs for households and businesses.”
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