The Queensland Government has been urged not to drop its support for minerals and energy exploration to ensure that the state continues to sustain a thriving resources sector. “We share the government’s desire for Queensland to become Australia’s greenfield exploration capital by 2020,” said Queensland Resources Council Chief Executive Michael Roche. However, [it] needs to plug a A$1.1 billion shortfall in projected exploration expenditure if it’s to achieve the target announced by the Bligh Government just before the 2009 election in March last year,” he said. (more…)