When the going gets tough, as it has been in Japan over the past year or so, you soon find out who your friends are. Soon after I came to office last year, I visited Japan to deliver the message that despite the economic setback being experienced by some nations in this region, Queensland was determined to retain its engagement with them. We regard our economy as being well meshed with the Asia-Pacific, and no nation is more vital to Queensland s future than Japan.
Japan is the world's second largest economy, and it is Queensland s most important trading partner.
We enjoy an excellent partnership, and the relationship is flowering so we are much more familiar with one another s society and culture. But just staying in the context of our economies, I recently opened the new head office in Brisbane of a company founded by the person most responsible for the development of our coal industry. Les Thiess was among the first to forecast Japan s need imported fossil fuel energy and as a result built what is now Queensland s greatest income-earning industry. He made well over 100 trips to Japan in a matter of just a few years to find buyers and develop the industry. It typifies the spirit of the relationship between Japan and Queensland Japanese companies today are active partners in our coal industry, which makes sense, since Queensland supplies about a quarter of Japan s total coal imports.