A booming Australian minerals sector has strongly contributed to the 27^thyear of uninterrupted economic growth for the nation, according to latest Annual National Accounts data released today by the Australian Bureau of Statistics.

Minister for Resources and Northern Australia Matt Canavan said the different development cycles of the resources sector meant while investment in mining operations had tailed off, the ramping up of production and strong commodity prices saw the sector return more than $150 billion in value added to the nation’s economy last financial year.

“To quote the ABS ‘Australia has experienced a mining investment boom unprecedented on an historical scale, particularly related to coal, iron ore, and liquefied natural gas (LNG),” Minister Canavan said.

The results were part of new detailed mining production, investment and income data released today by the ABS as part of its Annual National Accounts for 2017-18.

Minister Canavan said the figures showed that mining output had almost doubled its contribution to Australia’s Gross Value Added, increasing from 4.7% of the economy in 1994-95 to 8.8% in the last financial year.

“Despite Labor talking down coal jobs and saying coal is in ‘structural decline’ these figures show this is flat out wrong. Coal production was valued at $65.6 billion in 2017-18 and has now overtaken iron ore’s production of $64 billion,” he said.

"These results support the figures released by the Office of the Chief Economist in its September Resources and Energy Quarterly publication, which forecast our resources and energy exports would bring in more than a quarter of a trillion dollars to our economy this financial year.

“The end result of this success is more jobs for Australian families, more business opportunities in our regional centres and a stronger, more resilient national economy.”

Minister Canavan said coal was expected to be the nation’s number-one export earner in 2018-19 at more than $61 billion, narrowly ahead of iron ore at $60 billion.

“Australia is also now the world’s number one exporter of lithium, and our liquid natural gas (LNG) exports are set to rise to $48 billion as record investments by LNG companies in Australia continue to pay off,” he said.

“These are great results and show why we need to invest in, support and plan for a bright future for our resources and energy sector.

“Our recently released Resources 2030 Taskforce report gives us a roadmap for attracting more investment to the industry, finding new ways to grow competitive downstream industries and boosting our exploration success rates.

“It is something I take every opportunity to promote, both at home and overseas, in the interests of creating more opportunities for Australian families and the communities they live in.

“It is disappointing Labor won’t get on board with our positive approach, and chooses to talk down the sector every chance they get just to keep their loony left faction happy.

“They are placing their own political interests above those of hardworking Australian families, forsaking their roots and betraying future generations.”