Thank you very much Mr Peter Coates, your excellencies, my parliamentary colleagues, ladies and gentlemen. Can I say at the outset how encouraging and refreshing it was both from Mr Lynch and also from the video and also from Peter Coates to hear some positive stories about the development of relations and the progress being made by the indigenous community of Australia. Over the past few weeks we have very understandably and for very good reason, had a vigorous debate and discussion about some of the enormous challenges within the indigenous community. And that debate tells us that a number of things haven't been done that should have been done and some changes, especially in the law and order area, are fundamentally necessary. But that should not remain with us as the dominant picture of the indigenous story in this country. Great progress has been made and there are many good news stories in that community, not least in its relations with the mining industry of this country. I applaud the contribution that the mining industry is making and the priority the mining industry is placing on that issue.
Can I also applaud the commitment made by Mr Coates to the importance, the overriding importance, of safety in the mining industry as an ongoing responsibility of Government and endorse wholeheartedly his injunction to all those who participate in public debate not to engage in cheap scare campaigns on this issue.
I might share with you an exchange I had some 18 months ago with a visiting delegation sent to Australia by Governor Schwarzenegger of California, following a visit I paid to him on the way to Washington 18 months ago in the context of discussions with the Government of that state about the possible sale of natural gas to California; a rich market indeed could be sprung. And this delegation of course visited all the mining areas of Australia and in the discussion I had with them in Sydney they paid tribute to the mining industry and singled out the reputation of the Australian mining industry in the area of safety as something which had the envy and the high regard of the mining industry in the United States.
Now ladies and gentlemen it's natural that tonight I want to say something about the extraordinary role of the mining industry in Australia's economic development and Australia's economic history at the present time. We are living in a truly remarkable phase of economic and resource development history. We are not only, as a nation, enjoying remarkably strong economic conditions, the lowest unemployment in 30 years, very stable levels of inflation, very strong business investment, a very stable and predictable economic climate and a climate that has given levels of assurance and predictability that the Australian business community has not enjoyed for many years.
But we're also the fortunate beneficiary of one of the great transfers of economic power that the world has witnessed, certainly the greatest transfer of economic power the world has witnessed since the Industrial Revolution. We are at present witnessing the shifting of the centre of gravity of the world's middle classes from the United States and North America to the nations of north Asia. In a few short years the middle class of India and China will comprise between 400 and 800 million people. That represents an astonishing change. It doesn't mean that the power and strength of a country like the United States is going to fundamentally alter. And it won't alter the fact that there will continue to be considerable and enduring economic strength in the nations of western Europe. But what it does mean is the inevitable rise of the purchasing power of the middle class, especially of China and India. And the opportunities that that presents to Australia as a reliable and dependable supplier of resources is truly historic. And it's incumbent on all of us, those in the mining industry, those in government and those involved in the associated industries to the mining industry, to both understand the nature of this opportunity, to carefully husband the resources that we have available and to make sure that we retain our reputation for dependability and reliability.
I was, as many of you know, at the final stages involved as directly as one should be as the head of government of a free enterprise country, in the negotiations regarding the sale of natural gas to the Guangdong Province in China some three years ago. And it was very apparent to me in those negotiations that at a very early stage the authorities in China had decided that if other things were equal, and I think you all know what that is, if other things were equal, they really wanted to place their orders with Australia. Because they saw in Australia a country that could deliver the product reliably, on time, safely and an environment where the foundations of a long term partnership could be laid. And this opportunity that we have I know your industry is taking advantage of in an appropriately aggressive fashion. But like all market opportunities, it should never be taken for granted and the high standards of dependability and reliability that we have developed over past years has got to be maintained.
And the Government itself has got to do its job and to play its part and Peter Coates has reminded me of a way in which it could do its job, in his view, even better in relation to the taxation laws of the country. And I won't seek to dwell on that or to respond to that tonight, but I do acknowledge again the importance of this country maintaining the strong macro-economic environment that it has at the present time. And I do acknowledge also the importance of the ongoing reform process to the economy of Australia. We are in the process of bedding down some very significant changes to workplace relations laws. Those workplace relations laws will add to our productivity. They will provide more flexibility not only in the mining industry, but in other industries of Australia. But like all reforms, they can be the subject of misrepresentation and fear campaigns and be the object of opportunist, inaccurate descriptions.
But the process of economic reform must be maintained. If there's a simple story that comes out of the Australian experience of the last 15 or 20 years it is that we have gone through a remarkable period of economic reform and economic change. And it has won not only the interest, but also the respect of countries around the world. And one of the opportunities of visiting other countries is to be reinforced in the belief that the maintenance of ongoing economic reform not only consolidates our participation in the globalised world economy but also wins considerable respect and admiration in other parts of the country.
Now, it's not only of course in the area of workplace relations that continued change and reform is needed. I think all of us recognise that one of the challenges Australia faces at the present time is the skills shortage. It's not a crisis. We lapse too frequently in this country into the use of the word crisis. It's a serious challenge. We do have big shortages of skilled tradesmen and women in many areas of the economy and there needs to be a continued emphasis on different ways of responding to that challenge.
I think many of you will recall that, at the time of the last federal election, I announced on behalf of the Government if it were re-elected a commitment to the construction of 25 Australian Technical Colleges, which would not only lift the profile and the esteem of skilled trades around Australia but make a long, on-going contribution to meeting the skills shortage. And I'm very pleased tonight, especially in the context of this gathering of the Australian mining industry, to announce the 22nd of the 25 Australian Technical Colleges that will operate around Australia. This one will be located in the Pilbara. It's taken a bit of negotiation to get everybody together but it will be a consortium led by the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia. It will include the Australian Petroleum Production and Exploration Association and the Pilbara Industries Community Council, comprising BHP Billiton Iron Ore, Pilbara Iron Ore; that's Rio Tinto Limited, and Woodside Energy Limited; will run the Pilbara Australian Technical College. And the consortium has the strong support from local industry groups including include Newcrest, Fortescue, Worley, SKM, Ngarda Civil and Mining Pty Ltd. It will have campuses in Karratha, Port Hedland, Roebourne and Onslow and it will open its doors in February of 2007.
The purpose of these technical colleges, which will augment the existing structures providing technical training in Australia will be, amongst other things, to lift the esteem and prestige of technical training and to achieve something that I have always wanted, or I have for many years wanted, in Australia, and that is a situation where a high grade technical qualification is as prized a possession as a university degree.
Can I, in the vein of the need for ongoing reform, finally say something to you of the issue that Peter Coates touched on in his speech a few moments ago and that is the need to have a comprehensive debate about all stages in relation to the nuclear fuel cycle and the relevance of that to Australia. We are, as you know, the possessors of probably the largest reserves of uranium in the world. Australia has been greatly gifted by providence with her natural resources and uranium of course is one of them. For many years, people in this country regarded any reopening of debate on nuclear power, particularly in the wake of the Chernobyl and Three Mile Island accidents in the early to mid 1980s as being something that was to be handled not only with extreme care, but indeed with total disdain and disinterest.
But a number of things have, I believe, come together to bring about a change in the attitude of many Australians towards this issue. There is, of course, a passage of time since those accidents and the realisation that with superior technologies, the likelihood of them occurring again has been greatly diminished. There's been, of course, the growing realisation that nuclear energy is cleaner and greener than just about any other form of (inaudible) energy. There's also been the recognition that with the growth of countries such as India and China, there is a growing potential demand for our natural resources. We have signed a Uranium Export Agreement with China which is of course subject to the export safeguards that were established almost a quarter of a century ago in the wake of the Ranger Inquiry conducted by Mr Justice Fox.
And I was very directly asked by the Indian Prime Minister, when I visited that country in March of this year, whether Australians would be willing to sell uranium to that country. And my response was that the current Australian Government policy, which says that we cannot sell uranium, or won't sell uranium to countries that don't adhere to the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty, would not allow that to occur. We did undertake, as we have subsequently done, to very carefully examine the agreement made between Australia, between America rather, and India in relation to the supply to India of nuclear fuel.
All of these things I believe, and the growing realisation that in relation to uranium exports there is something fundamentally hypocritical in saying 'well it's too dangerous to use uranium in Australia because of the consequences, but we're very happy to profit from the sale of it so other countries that use it can grapple with the dangers that we find unacceptable'. For all of these reasons the Government has come to the view that a proper expert inquiry into all aspects of nuclear power, whether it's desirable and economic that we have the possibility of uranium enrichment. We have a very well settled policy, the current Government does, of course, in relation to uranium mining and uranium export, but all aspects of the fuel cycle should be examined in this inquiry. I think it is, as Peter Coates said, a debate that we need to have. It will of course be attended by a lot of the usual fear campaign. I noted, Peter, that one of the possible sites was Port Stephens. You have a house there. I was a little surprised that a place very near to Port Stephens, namely Hawks Nest, that I holidayed at for some 20 years, was not of course mentioned. But I must have known something because I never got around to buying anything at Hawks Nest.
But can I say this will be a debate that will attract the usual fear campaign. I thought the Australia Institute's effort in publishing all of those potential sites was sort of a down payment and instalment on that, but I want to make it clear that the Government intends to persevere with the inquiry and I hope to say something in more detail about the nature and scope of this inquiry. We intend to persevere with it, irrespective of the reaction of that kind that may arise in the future.
And can I also make the point, and this is particular information to some of those who've written about this subject in the Australian media, that the idea of having an inquiry in relation to the nuclear industry is not something that was plucked out of the air by me during the last few weeks with malign political intent in relation to those who sit opposite me in the Federal Parliament. But as Ian Macfarlane will know, it's something that both he and Brendan Nelson, the former Minister for Education and Science, began raising with me, and putting the desirability of it to me, some months ago. I think it is an important debate. I think it's a debate that will test the capacity of this country to maturally examine issues related to our long term energy future, and of course our long term capacity to control greenhouse gas emissions and make the necessary environmental investment that I know and you know we must make in our future and the future of our planet.
Can I conclude my remarks, as I have done on the other occasions on which I have been given the privilege of addressing this gathering, can I thank the mining industry of Australia not only for its regular payment of tax instalments and the very large numbers of Australians that it employs. Can I also thank it for being to the rest of the world, an example of efficiency, an example of safety, an industry that does take its social responsibilities seriously and an industry that understands the changing nature of the world environment in which Australia is operating and an industry which is making a mighty contribution to the Australian economic achievement of the early part of the 21st Century.
Thank you.
[ends]