Coal-seam gas sector can pump up employment

THE coal-seam gas debate is capturing the headlines because of the political and environmental ramifications involved.

Coal-seam gas

THE debate Tony Abbott has found himself slap bang in the middle of -- between the rights of farmers and the rights of coal-seam gas miners -- is capturing the headlines because of the political and environmental ramifications involved.

Politically, Abbott has found himself wedged between sectors that are traditional allies of the conservatives. It risks donations from miners and harmony with Coalition partner the Nationals.

These ramifications are significant, especially the potential environmental impact of damaging water tables. But the impact that growth -- or a lack of growth -- within coal-seam gas exploration and mining could have on employment in this country is a consequence with profound flow-on effects for the shape of our economy in the years ahead.

The Australian Workers Union national secretary, Paul Howes, yesterday identified the employment opportunities that could flow from growth in coal-seam gas mining. It's a labour-intensive form of mining and judging by the news yesterday from Qantas, Westpac and OneSteel no wonder Labor wants to encourage the industry. One of the criticisms of those who spruik the value of mining to our economic wellbeing is that it doesn't usually result in an employment uplift to match the size of the sector.

But coal-seam gas operations are different. The potentially large number of small mining operations is good for jobs. The new mines are also primarily littered across NSW and Queensland, that is large population centres, and unlikely to involve the fly-in/fly-out operations characteristic of the northern parts of Western Australia.

If a healthy compromise can be reached, coal-seam gas mining also has the potential to provide the farming sector with an important stream of revenue for access rights to their land during times of drought.

The large employment sectors in Australia include manufacturing, tourism and agriculture. Let's be honest; all are dying industries, certainly with a high Australian dollar. The dollar is showing no signs of dropping in value. In fact, most experts predict parity with the US currency is the new order.

Our comparative advantage over other export economies was once our farming sector -- the whole country living on the sheep's back phenomenon. But today our advantage is our rich mining deposits and our capacity to feed China and India's energy needs as they drag their people out of poverty through development.

One of the major threats to trickle-down prosperity in this country in the years ahead is the issue of what jobs will people currently involved in declining industries such as manufacturing move to when that industry inevitably collapses? Technology is often mentioned, but to date Australia has shown little sign of emulating growth in this area, as has happened in other parts of the world. Besides, a lack of investment in education also hampers this sector. The answer may be coal-seam gas mining.

Of course, we need to be sure growth in coal-seam gas mining isn't at the expense of important prime agricultural production.

And we must closely consider not just the natural environment but the impacts on people's lives in rural areas. As this newspaper's editorial on Monday neatly put it, often the impact on the habitat of Homo sapiens gets forgotten.

The Australian economy in recent years has been blessed by low unemployment to the point where we have looked to import skilled workers from abroad to supplement particular needs. But there are a swathe of jobs tied to industries under pressure, which puts those jobs under constant threat too. Governments of all political stripes have attempted to prop up these industries with a mixture of protectionism and subsidies, which has worked to a point. But in the long run, a shift in Australia's employment profile will be forced on us, and when that happens, emerging sectors such as the coal-seam gas sector will be vital to maintaining low unemployment rates.

As long as the politics and environmental concerns can be managed effectively.