Those living in Australia's regions have to contend with a number of challenges that their city cousins would not give a second thought to - no decent coffee within a 100km radius, blow flies, and limited entertainment options just to name a few.
People need a good a reason to stay in the regions and employment opportunities that offer decent wages rate very highly as a valid reason.
Hogsback was recently accosted by a posse of anti-Adani protestors in the streets of Sydney who did not have the foggiest idea of what the unemployment levels are like in Townsville these days. For the record it is upwards of 6% and among the highest in the country.
Trying to explain this to these people and that Adani's Carmichael coal project would actually give hope to young people in central northern Queensland ended up being a fruitless task.
A lot of the protestors were elderly grandparents who claimed they cared about the planet so their grandkids could live without global warming.
What about the kids and grandkids in central Queensland? Are they are going to be denied so that the world's greenhouse gases will be reduced by a decimal point of 1%?
Talking down our major export earning industries undermines long-term relationships and valuable trade opportunities with Australia's global customers, according to the Minerals Council of Australia CEO Tania Constable.
"Only this month, Australian Bureau of Statistics trade data confirmed that coal became Australia's number one export earner in 2018, with higher prices and export volumes supporting a record high $66 billion in export revenue," she said.
"Higher prices and increased volumes deliver more taxes and royalties to the federal and state governments which fund more teachers, nurses, police and lifesaving medical treatments."
A survey by the New South Wales Minerals Council of 28 participating mining companies found they directly injected $4.3 billion into the Hunter economy in 2017-18, supporting thousands of jobs and generating millions in additional spending across the region.
NSW Minerals Council CEO Stephen Galilee said the survey, completed for a seventh year, confirms the Hunter continues to depend on mining activity for local jobs, investment and economic growth.
With droughts, floods and bushfires around, a viable coal mining industry can offer a glimmer of hope and a career path for many young people who choose to live in the bush.
