2008 Queensland Mining and Engineering Exhibition

Acknowledgement

Ms Jan Jarrett MP, MP for Whitsunday, Parliamentary Secretary for Tourism, Industry and Regional Development.
Mr ColMeng, Mayor of Mackay Regional Council,
Julie Boyd, Trade Queensland Special Representative
Mr Peter Franks, CEO Mackay Regional Council

Thank you very much for inviting me to the 2008 Queensland Mining and Engineering Exhibition.

As Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Trade, I am fascinated by the mining sector, and its many successes and opportunities.

I have recently returned from EXPOMIN in Chile where over 60 Australian businesses participated at Austrade’s Australia Pavilion.

Today, I am pleased to be at an event that is more ‘home-grown’ - with our close friends from India and the Pacific.

This is a great event to be involved in. I believe this eighth Queensland Mining and Engineering Exhibition is the largest since it began in 1993. As many of you would be aware, it includes around 515 exhibitors occupying 12,000 square metres of floor space.

There can be no greater sign of the exhibition’s success than the fact that more than 10,000 visitors are expected to visit the exhibition over the next three days.

That it should be co-hosted by the Queensland Government and Austrade is another example of how the Rudd Government, and the States, are working together with our overseas customers.

It is sensible for the exhibition to be staged in Queensland, the largest coal producing state in the world’s largest coal producing country.

More specifically, it is appropriate for the exhibition to be held in a regional Queensland city such as Mackay which is a centre of mining and set in some of the most beautiful countryside in Australia.

What is noteworthy about this region is that the mining industry actually adds real value to Australia’s tourism exports.

One would hardly have thought that coal terminals could be a tourist attraction – but experience shows that they are. There are numerous examples.

Blair Athol Coal Mine Tours set out from Clermont twice a week to show tourists the mine which is Australia’s largest exporter of thermal coal.
A brick chimney that stands as a marker for visitors to see the Peak Downs mine, which, when discovered in 1862, was an amazing, three-metre high solid wall of copper ore.
And I’m told that MacKay Tourism is developing a coal trail which visitors follow all the way from the mines to the export terminals.

Notwithstanding these tourist attractions, it is great to be in Mackay to network, exchange ideas and provide opportunities for each other in such beautiful surroundings.

I welcome exhibitors and buyers alike, with a special welcome to our foreign guests - the international buyers - who have been drawn to this exhibition.

This is the third occasion since 2004 in which Austrade has supported the Queensland Mining and Engineering Exhibition - and each time, the numbers of international buyers has been steadily increasing.

I have no doubt that this is because of Australia’s increasing reputation around the world as a pace-setter in the mining industry.

I understand that Austrade introduced 35 potential customers to the exhibition this year and that 22 of them (63 per cent) are from India.

This, and our talks last month with India’s Trade and Commerce Minister, Kamal Nath, on the feasibility study for an Australia-India free-trade agreement, demonstrates India’s rapidly expanding commercial ties with Australia.

I also acknowledge our close mining sector neighbours from New Zealand.

This year marks the 25th anniversary of the signing of the Closer Economic Relations agreement, which has been recognised by the WTO as a free trade agreement of the highest quality.

The visit by New Zealand customers here follows a visit to Wellington last month by numerous Australian Ministers, including Australia’s Trade Minister Simon Crean, and 40 senior Australian business representatives attending the 2008 Australia New Zealand Leadership Forum.

I also extend a warm welcome to our guests from New Caledonia.

There can be no doubt that international interest in this event has spread far and wide - with representatives from Austrade’s Indonesia and Russian offices also joining us today.

The Queensland Mining and Engineering Exhibition is a major event on the global mining and engineering business calendar which displays Australia’s great experience in the mining industry

Exhibitions of this scale are befitting of a sector that has grown faster than any other sector in the Australian economy. Resources are the largest contributor to Australia’s exports, earning $106 billion - half of our total export revenues from the last financial year.

The mining sector today reflects a changing pattern of international trade, to recognise that it’s no longer a matter of just digging up and exporting resources.

Australian companies have made Australia a world leader in the supply of capital equipment, contract mining, software, exploration, mining consumables and professional services such as engineering.

At this exhibition, we are putting on display some of these remarkable mining services and technologies that add much value to mining operations around the world.

As well as being a quality provider of mining goods and services, Australia’s foreign investment rules, well-defined regulatory bodies, political, social and legal stability are also conducive to inward investment.

This can be seen in the multinational nature of mining enterprises operating in Australia.

I would like to thank Austrade and the Queensland Government for organising today’s event, as well as the companies and industry stakeholders who have made this year’s exhibition possible.

Austrade representatives are here to assist you with business matching - including an on-line matchmaking activity - which is a very effective way of overcoming the tyranny of distance and getting businesses together in this modern age.

Thank-you also to Reed Exhibitions of Chatswood, Sydney, who have set up this very fine exhibition. The company serves nearly 50 sectors in 38 countries ––in this case helping to display to the world Australia’s mining and engineering capabilities.

A big thank-you, too, to our international guests for taking the time to visit us.

Enjoy the evening.

Enjoy the show.

Let’s enjoy doing business together.