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» Are there really 54,000 people employed in thermal coal mining?Are there really 54,000 people employed in thermal coal mining?
National Party Deputy Leader Bridget McKenzie says there are here 54,000 people employed in the thermal coal mining industry. Is she right?
The claim
The need for jobs in central Queensland has been one of the key arguments made in favour of opening the Adani Carmichael coal mine and developing the thermal coal deposits of the Galilee Basin more broadly, despite environmental and economic arguments against the moves.
In an interview on RN Breakfast, host Fran Kelly asked National Party Deputy Leader Bridget McKenzie about the outlook for the development of the Galilee Basin, in light of mining companies such as BHP signalling moves away from investment in thermal coal.
This article quotes Associate Professor Ben Phillips, Principal Research Fellow at the Centre for Social Research and Methods at the Australian National University.
