New research conducted by independent research agency, Ipsos, has reinforced the need for the resources sector to better explain its everyday importance, relevance and world-class environmental standards to all Queenslanders.
The research, which was commissioned by the Queensland Resource Council (QRC), has made it clear that the industry and the hundreds of thousands of Queenslanders working in it, must strengthen the understanding of the benefits from industry for Queensland, particularly those who live in the South East corner of the state.
QRC Chief Executive, Ian Macfarlane, said the research backs the QRC’s own State of the Sector report released in March which surveyed resource chiefs regarding the wider view across other industries to increase community appreciation.
67 per cent of Queenslanders surveyed as part of this independent research were either ‘uninformed’ or ‘had a balanced view’ on the resources sector.
The research also found that 20 per cent of those surveyed could be described as ‘pro-mining’ and 13 per cent responded as ‘anti-mining’.
Mr Macfarlane said this is an opportunity to listen to the community and to tell the industry’s story to Queenslanders – particularly how relevant resources are to them and of the benefits they each get from a strong and vibrant resources industry in Queensland.
“Our sector is part of every Queenslander’s life, whether it’s the silver in their smartphones, the copper in their solar panels or the steel in their car,” he said.
“Queensland’s resource sector contributes more than 80 per cent to the State’s exports, supports more than 315,000 full-time jobs and is on track to pay more than $5.3 billion in royalty taxes to build schools, hospitals and roads. But we need to keep telling our story…”
The State of the Sector report found that in the next 12 months, several resource companies plan to invest more on working with local communities, as 68 per cent of companies surveyed committed to ‘increasing’ or ‘significantly increasing’ community and social capability.
“As an industry, we need to be strengthening our linkage with our communities and local stakeholders. Mining offers so much locally – yet we are not doing a great job in reinforcing these links,” Mr Macfarlane concluded.