Editorial: Resources Technology Showcase opportunity for next generations to understand importance of mining

West Australians know how important mining is to the State and national economy. As the engine room for prosperity it’s in many ways a success story we can be proud. As the Prime Minister reiterates to The Sunday Times today, the sector is the engine room of the national economy. What the Resources Technology Showcase, which kicks off on Sunday, affords is an opportunity for the next two generations of workers to understand just how crucial that is. And while AI is taking centre stage in current debates about the workplace of the future, that technology and others like it are set to shape how the mining sector moves into the future. Already at the cutting edge of technology adoption, the mining sector in many respects is leading the way in showing how the rest of the country can adapt to new and emerging ways of doing business. The future, as Anthony Albanese has affirmed, is bright for the sector and it will lead the way in greening the economy. “As we undertake the transformation of the clean energy economy here — WA must be a driver of it,” he said. “While government has an important role to play, we know it will be industry that drives the major developments to decarbonise the sector.” It’s in this spirit that the Prime Minister says his government is committed to supporting industry in taking critical steps forward. It will also be crucial to see how the Government responds to calls at its economic roundtable to cut red tape and make approvals of all kinds much easier. Both levels of government tell The Sunday Times this week that red tape has a stranglehold on industry — and in many ways this is holding innovation and critical technological development back. As WA Treasurer Rita Saffioti will often remind her peers and the rest of Australia: WA’s success is Australia’s success — what’s in the State’s interests economically is also in the national interest. The Premier, too, has pushed for critical minerals and the green economy to be central planks of his government’s third term, looking to support industry in their endeavours for the future. The resources sector in WA now employs more than 150,000 people — the highest on record. Beyond the opportunities for children and students, the showcase also provides a rare opportunity for city dwellers to get a real insight into our State’s most critical sector — what drives it now and where it’s going into the future.