The Queensland Government’s Resources and Energy Strategy recognises that good science is the key driver of practical research, development, knowledge and innovation – and ultimately, industry innovation and prosperity for Queensland. One way of measuring industry’s commitment to innovation is to use the statistics known as Business Expenditure on Research and Development (BERD); the latest data available is for 2009-10. Mining BERD has grown significantly since 2001. Western Australia (WA), with over half of Australia’s mining output, had the highest mining BERD, peaking in 2008-09 at A$2,520 million. Queensland and New South Wales-the ‘coal’ states- vie for second place, with Queensland winning this contest in 2009-10. Mining BERD for selected states is shown in the posted diagram.
Queensland mining BERD in 2009-10 was A$804 million; a significant increase on its A$725 million (2008-09) and A$117 million in 2000-01. This increase of nearly 11% is amazing when we consider that total BERD for Queensland, for Australia overall, and for the rest of Australia’s mining all fell after 2008-09 when all jurisdictions suffered from the Global Financial Crisis and a softening of resource prices at that time (see Figure below). Possibly the Queensland mining industry bucked the trend due to the strong investment boom in coal and coal seam gas, which has continued.
BERD can also be used as a measure of what industries drive innovation. WA, the NT and Queensland mining sectors all contribute major shares of their respective BERD. WA and NT mining shares of BERD are around 70%, reflecting the dominance of the resource industries in their economies. Mining has around a third of total BERD in Queensland.
Mining BERD as a percentage of total BERD for selected states
The message for the community and government is that mining industry BERD needs to be encouraged and where possible, linked into other expenditure on research and development.
The Queensland Government is a significant contributor to research and development, spending A$43 million on energy and resources research and development in 2009-10. Much of this expenditure was combined with Australian Government and industry funding to reach a total of A$113 million.
The Department of Natural Resources and Mines continues to be a major investor in research and development to support the mining industry, including safety research, exploration support and geological surveys; and encourages industry and universities to continue finding innovative ways for developing technologies and processes for the future.