The NSW Minerals Council has welcomed a report by KPMG on behalf of the Minerals Council of Australia that clearly shows the positive impact mining is having on the economic growth of the Hunter region. NSW Minerals Council CEO, Stephen Galilee said KPMG’s ‘Analysis of the Changing Resident Demographic Profile of Australia’s Mining Communities’, showed that responsible mining has helped the Hunter economy out-perform other regions across NSW and nationally in key economic areas such as jobs and individualincome growth. “The KPMG report is further evidence of the positive role mining is playing in the ongoing development of the Hunter,” Mr Galilee said.

“For example, according to the report one of the most positive impacts of the Hunter mining industry is that more people in the Hunter own their own home than in any other surveyed mining region in Australia. “The data shows that 70% of residents in the Hunter Valley own their own home compared to, for example, 66% in the Galilee Basin in QLD and 28% in WA’s Pilbara region.” The positive impact mining is having on the economic well-being of individuals and families in the Hunter has also been highlighted in the report; 7% of the Hunter population is now earning more than $2,000 a week, up from 3% in 2006, higher than the average for regional Australia.

The most recent National Census also confirmed this growth in household incomes in the Hunter. Median household income in Upper Hunter Shire grew by 21.7% between 2006 and 2011, while Cessnock household incomes grew by 31.9%, Singleton by 33.6% and Newcastle by 31.4% over the same period. This compares to NSW median household income growth of 18.7% and national growth of 19.5% over the same period. The KPMG report also found that the Hunter Valley experienced the largest decline in unemployment rates of all major Australian mining regions between 2006 and 2012, falling from 8.4% to 3.6%.

The report also outlines the ‘flow-on’ benefit that mining is having on employment generally in the Hunter.  While mining employment has increased by 51%between 2006 and 2012, employment in Administration and Support Services has increased by 30%, Healthcare and Social Assistance by 16% and Other Services by 16%. “This latest analysis shows that mining not only delivers direct jobs to workers in the Hunter, but also supports jobs growth in other sectors right across theregional economy,” Mr Galilee said.

“According to the Australian Bureau of Statistics, mining directly delivers 20,513 jobs in the Hunter; it’s estimated that this generates over 71,000 indirect jobs in the region.
“The findings of the KPMG report also highlight the very local nature of the Hunter mining workforce relative to other mining regions across the country.  The majority of our mining workforce live and raise their families in the region and are an integral part of their local communities. “That’s why it’s important that public investment in infrastructure keeps pace with the growth we are seeing in the Hunter, especially in the Upper Hunter,” Mr Galilee said.

“So far the Upper Hunter has received nothing from the NSW Government’s Hunter Infrastructure and Investment Fund; this imbalance must be corrected as a matter of urgency,” he said. “The NSW Government’s own review of the infrastructure and services spending in mining regions conducted earlier this year found that Muswellbrook and Singleton have been missing out. “It is essential that government spending on infrastructure and services keeps pace with the needs of the Hunter region. That’s why we are calling on the NSW Government to invest the remainder of its Hunter Infrastructure and Investment Fund in projects in the Upper Hunter to address the challenges of growth inthis vital economic engine room.”