Reading the Courier-Mail story today about how the Government looks set to favour coal miners over farmers in Central Queensland, I recalled a chart my friend and colleague Brad Rogers once showed me of the contributions made by different commodities to total exports. In Queensland, coal is king, and dwarfs the contribution from agriculture (see chart below based on data from the Government Statistician’s website).
As well as considering the contribution of coal to the economy, the Government is also aware of the significant contribution coal makes to the Queensland Government Budget (see chart below based on data from the State Budget).
Queensland Economy Watch 
Hi Gene.
Agree about the split of course – just wondering how long this sort of proportion has been the case? What was coal versus agriculture say, pre-year 2000? The past decade has seen a huge expansion in coal but resources demand has always been cyclical whereas I would not have thought food would be, not to the same extent at least.