Pay dirt for NSW as mining delivers $10bn to state economy
Mining companies injected at least $10.4 billion into the NSW economy in 2016-17.
Mining companies injected at least $10.4 billion into the NSW economy in 2016-17 including $2.9bn in wages for 22,821 full-time workers and $5.9bn on goods and services from more than 6680 local businesses.
The NSW Minerals Council’s member expenditure survey shows that the sector helped support thousands of jobs and generated billions in additional spending across the state, including regional communities.
The sector was responsible for $1.7bn in taxes to the NSW government, including royalties, with direct jobs in the mining sector increasing by 8.7 per cent.
Direct spending fell slightly by 3.5 per cent on the previous year.
NSW Minerals Council chief executive Stephen Galilee said the survey results from the participating 23 member companies showed the sector was in recovery following the end of the previous mining downturn.
“It’s clear that mining is a resilient and consistent contributor to the NSW economy,” he said.
“The strong improvement in mining jobs revealed in these survey results is good news for mining communities; we’ve seen other evidence this trend has continued since the survey ended, particularly in our coalmining regions”.
The Hunter region received the largest share of direct spending, accounting for $4.5bn or 43.4 per cent of direct expenditure by mining in NSW but Sydney was the second-largest region, receiving $2.2bn or 21.4 per cent of direct spending in 2016-17.
“While some don’t realise the strong connection Sydney has with mining, many Sydney suburbs are home to hundreds of local businesses that are part of the mining supply chain, particularly in western Sydney,” Mr Galilee said.
In the local government area of Parramatta, to the west of Sydney, 190 businesses received $375 million from mining companies while 108 businesses in the Fairfield local government area received $69.2m.
The expenditure of surveyed companies is estimated to have contributed 19.1 per cent of gross regional product in the Hunter region; 8.5 per cent in the Central West; 7.2 per cent in the Illawarra; 6 per cent in the northwest region and 3.8 per cent in the northern region of NSW.
“These survey results confirm that much of regional NSW continues to depend on mining projects for local jobs, investment and economic growth,” Mr Galilee said.