Reuters reported that Mr Greg Combet Australia's new climate change minister believes the country's coal sector has a future under government policies.

Mr Combet, a former union worker, replaced Mr Penny Wong in the post in Prime Minister Ms Julia Gillard's new cabinet announced at the weekend after last month's election.

Australia is the world's biggest coal exporter and the new minister said he would fight for the sector as he pushes a policy agenda to pursue renewable energy, energy efficiency and development of a carbon price for Australia.

Mr Combet said that "You don't take the back of the axe to the fundamentals of the Australian economy. I've got a responsibility to support those people's jobs. The coal industry is a very vibrant industry with a strong future. What you've got to do is look to how we can achieve in the longer term things like carbon capture and storage for coal fired power stations."

There have been industry concerns that Ms Gillard's Labor Party alliance with the Greens could put more pressure on mining, particularly on polluting coal, but Mr Combet said it was not part of his job to shut down the coal industry.

(Sourced from www.reuters.com)