Mining outdoes nation-wide economic performance

This is a 1.1 per cent rise compared to the same period last year.

“Encouragingly, mining investment also rose by 1.3 per cent on the previous quarter, and up by almost 8 per cent on the previous year, which is a good indication of the confidence in the Australian resources sector, despite the impact of COVID-19,” Pitt said.

Meanwhile, Western Australia experienced its strongest growth in seven years during the 2019-20 year while battling with the global COVID-19 pandemic.

Its was the only state in Australia to experience growth in its domestic economy (1.1 per cent ), and this was attributed to hard border policy and its response to COVID-19.

It delivered a 9.3 per cent increase in business investment, which was guided by the mining sector as it continued operating throughout the pandemic.

Western Australia’s Treasurer Ben Wyatt, crediting the state’s border policy, said it had allowed the state to open up its domestic economy sooner and allow businesses to restart and Western Australians to get back to work.

“Constantly changing the rules to deal with outbreaks is bad for business confidence and, in turn bad, for the economy as we have seen in states with open borders,” he said.

“The McGowan Government is taking action with its $5.5 billion recovery plan to return our economy to its pre-COVID growth trajectory as quickly as possible, to support WA businesses and get Western Australians back to work.”

New South Wales and Victoria’s economy both contracted by around 8.5 per cent, compared with a 6 per cent contraction in Western Australia’s state final demand.