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QueensLAnD

Mining to soothe tourism’s

rough ride

obs in Queensland’s mining sector tiary qualified geologists to electricians, tinuing along a path of a more diverse
Jcould help alleviate some of the pres- boiler makers, truck drivers and machine workforce, with a 52% increase in female
sures felt by those in the State’s battered operators and cleaners; it is a busy time participation in the last five years in the
tourism industry. and workers are needed.” sector.
Speaking to Paydirt on the day the The State is set to welcome the Car- Indigenous participation – currently
Queensland Resources Council was michael coal project, now running under 4.8% – in the mining sector is also in-
promoting a heap of jobs in the resourc- the Bravus Mining & Resources banner, creasing, while there has been a big
es sector, chief executive Ian Macfarlane onstream later this year, while two coking uptake in apprenticeships offered by in-
said there was a broad spectrum of op- coal projects are set for development in dustry.
portunities for people to tap into. the near future. “We’ve seen more women moving into
Despite the disruption of the last 12 Anglo American plc has been a big non-traditional engineering, trades, op-
months, jobs in the State’s thriving coal player in the State’s coal sector and erator and executive management roles,”
sector rose by nearly 40% while overall is now looking to expand its search for he said.
there was a 23% uplift in employment other commodities, including critical min- “The number of women in non-tradi-
across the whole mining sector. erals. tional roles has grown 25% in the last
“You can only imagine what Cairns is “They are one of the biggest metals 12 months and we are about to crack
like at the moment, we announced to- explorers in Queensland at the moment through 20% women in our total work-
day that there are 1,000 job vacancies and are a looking in the hard rock space force. It is very positive and obviously the
across the Queensland resources sec- where we have seen good investment in technical and innovation side of things
tor, including in Cairns. With the tour- the State,” Macfarlane said. is getting stronger as well, so there are
ism industry going through a major reset Queensland’s resources sector is more opportunities opening up in that
those jobs will be snapped up, I suspect,” worth $82.6 billion and currently employs space.”
Macfarlane said. 420,000 people across the State. – Mark Andrews
“Everything from engineers and ter- Macfarlane said industry was con-

QRC chief executive Ian Macfarlane
and winner of the Exceptional Woman
in Resources Award, Maryann Wipaki.
New data has showed there was
a 25% increase in the number of
females working in the Queensland
industry over the past financial year;
5,472 in FY2018/2019 to 6,841 in
FY2019/2020
Queensland’s 2021 Resources Awards for Women winners

Exceptional Woman in Resources Gender Diversity Champion in Resources
Maryann Wipaki, Mount Isa Liz Hansen, Culture and Inclusions Manager, Anglo American plc, Brisbane
Exceptional Young Woman in Resources Excellence in Diversity Programmes and Performance
Ashleigh Turner, Brisbane TransCoal, Brisbane
Exceptional Woman in Technological Innovation Exceptional Female QMEA Student
Sharna Glover, co-founder and chief executive, Imvelo.ai, Brisbane Caitlin Boothby, Biloela State High School

Page 32 aPRIL 2021 aUSTRaLIa’S PaYDIRT