Thousands of miners hard at work while a handful protest

Today, while a handful of the usual protesters try to score political points in Sydney, tens of thousands of NSW miners are hard at work at mines across NSW, providing an essential service that keeps the lights on and generates significant economic activity for the state.

And today many thousands more are working at more than 10,500 businesses across NSW that supply our mines with more than $9.8 billion worth of goods and services.

There is strong support for mining across the community in NSW, with 70 percent of people in the broader community supporting mining and nearly 90 percent understanding its importance to the economy.

Mining is heavily regulated in NSW and in recent years it has become harder, not easier, to have mine applications assessed and approved in a timely manner. New steps have been added to the planning assessment process adding months to the assessment timeframes and significant additional costs for proponents.

Mine proposals should be rigorously assessed, but the assessment process must not discourage investment and risk sending economic activity and jobs interstate or overseas.