Former Liberal Treasurer Peter Costello has delivered a passionate defence of the mining sector, saying it has been “treated shabbily” in Australia and questioning why learning about the industry is not part of the curriculum in Australian schools.
In a lecture to the Minerals Council of Australia in Melbourne, Mr Costello bemoaned that students learning about the mining industry would be more likely to learn of the sector’s environmental impacts as opposed to its economic benefits.
And Mr Costello took aim at Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull’s emphasis on “innovation”, saying the preoccupation with creating the next Facebook or Uber ignored the enduring economic prowess and innovation witnessed in traditional industries like the mining sector.