Official figures released by the Australian Bureau of Statistics yesterday revealed that Australia’s economy grew by just 0.5% in the December quarter and by 2.5% in 2014, yet the Queensland economy contracted by 1% in the quarter, or 2.5% in the year to December 2014.

Queensland Resources Council CEO Michael Roche said although the December figures showed sluggish growth across the country the results next quarter would tell a different story, with the first export shipment bound for Asia loaded from Curtis Island off Gladstone in central Queensland in January.

The LNG plants would hit full production in two years, by which time 360 ships a year will carry the cargo out of Gladstone, which former Queensland Treasurer Tim Nicholls – who is now shadow infrastructure minister – said in January would see government royalties skyrocket to about $500 million annually.

Roche said the ABS figures for demand in Queensland clearly reflect the reduction in private investment, which fell 3.5% in the December 2014 quarter.

“These figures are not unexpected as we move from investment to exports and the ABS March quarter accounts will reflect the first quarter of LNG exports out of Queensland,” he said.

“Queensland will be a major player in the global LNG market, set to produce 25 million tonnes a year of LNG by the end of 2016.”

Roche said that other parts of Queensland’s resources sector were also making a solid contribution, including record volumes of coal exports in calendar year 2014.

“As the industry moves out of the investment phase into production stage, we should not forget that resources is still responsible for supporting one in every five Queensland jobs and underpinning one in every four dollars of the state’s economy,” he said.

In its World Energy Outlook in 2014, the International Energy Agency forecast positive future prospects for Australia as economic growth in highly populated emerging economies would sustain increased demand for energy commodities.

The report forecasts Australia will regain its position as the world’s largest coal exporter on the back of strong growth in demand from Asia and fossil fuels will still make up about 75% of global energy supply by 2040.

The new ABS figures revealed an increase in gross value added by mining in the year to December 2014 (seasonally adjusted) of $134.6 billion (8.9%) for mining as a whole including oil and gas; $21.1 billion (6.7%) for coal mining and $60.2 billion (16.3%) for iron ore mining.

Minerals Council of Australia CEO Brendan Pearson took the opportunity of the release of the new ABS figures to issue a warning about solid policy to sustain development.

“While the industry faces a more constrained environment, it is important not to take for granted the gains secured from a larger mining industry and the extent to which they endure,” Pearson said yesterday.

If the growth in mining (including oil and gas) had been zero in the year to December 2014, then the Australian economy would have been $134.6 billion smaller in seasonally adjusted terms; Australia's GDP for the year to December 2014 would have been $1.444 trillion instead of $1.578 trillion in seasonally adjusted terms; and Australia's trend growth rate for the year to December 2014 would be 1.8% instead of 2.3%, Pearson pointed out.

“Today's National Account figures reflect just how important the long-term success of the mining industry [including oil and gas] is to the overall national economy,” he added.