AN AUSTRALIAN Mines and Metals Association television campaign is asking Australia’s policymakers to “work with us” and let industry sit at the table when important policy conversations are being had.
AREEA CEO Steve Knott said the association’s campaign aimed to shine a light on the industry’s contribution to the national wellbeing as it trained and prepared thousands of workers for the future of work.
According to the Reserve Bank of Australia the resource economy supports more than 1 million jobs through flow-on effects.
Knott said with that at stake and the industry under attack by what he called “increasingly sophisticated activists”, it was imperative political and community stakeholders worked with AREEA on key issues.
“There are big conversations to be had about a number of policy issues,” Knott said.
“This includes industry development, industrial relations, taxation and energy policy [and] resources and energy employers must be at the table when those conversations are had.”
The first phase of the campaign will air on Sky News until the end of the month, focusing on the industry’s role in creating thousands of science, technology, engineering and mathematics-based jobs.
Subsequent phases will look at how the industry supports regional communities, and its role in the development of renewables and low-emissions technologies.
Knott said with more than 200 mining and gas projects in Australia’s investment pipeline around 25,000 additional jobs could be available in the sector by 2025.
