P eople will travel a long way to see a West Australian sunset. The brilliant yellows and reds are not easily forgotten. This week I saw brilliant yellows and reds of a different kind, having spent five days travelling the breadth of this great State in my new role as Federal Minister for Resources, Energy and Northern Australia.
From Kalgoorlie to Karratha, Perth to the Pilbara, I met so many ambitious, energetic and highly skilled West Australians working in the mining and gas sectors. Their efforts are helping to drive job growth and wealth creation in Australia\xE2€[TM]s world-class resources industry.
Employing about 500,000 people, contributing about 10 per cent of the nation\xE2€[TM]s GDP and responsible for nearly 60 per cent of Australia\xE2€[TM]s merchandise exports, resources and energy is indispensable to the nation\xE2€[TM]s prosperity. It is here that Western Australia plays such a vital role.
While the Sandgroper State is 10 per cent of Australia\xE2€[TM]s population, it contributes 16 per cent of the nation\xE2€[TM]s GDP and nearly 45 per cent of the nation\xE2€[TM]s merchandise exports. It is only because of the rich endowment of Western Australia that Australia is the world\xE2€[TM]s largest exporter of iron ore, is soon to be the world\xE2€[TM]s largest exporter of LNG and has dominant global positions in gold, nickel and rare earths to name but a few. 
As a long suffering Carlton supporter I can also say your footy teams aren't too bad either. 
With the Federal Member for O\xE2€[TM]Connor, Rick Wilson, I visited the Goldfields in Kalgoorlie-Boulder where so much of the State\xE2€[TM]s resources story began. We toured the iconic KCGM Super Pit where 1200 people are busy working on the biggest open pit gold mine in Australia. 
We met Hahn Electrical Contracting where they were preparing specialised mine equipment for export to Egypt and we shared a drink at Hannans Club, one of the many impressive watering holes and heritage buildings that dot the main street. One only has to think back to 1901 when Western Australia had a population of 100,000 people, half of whom lived in Kalgoorlie-Boulder, to appreciate the central role and pioneering spirit that has made Kalgoorlie-Boulder such a household name.
From Kalgoorlie I went to Karratha with my colleague, Federal Member for Durack, Melissa Price. Melissa has the biggest electorate in the country. In stark contrast to my Melbourne seat of Kooyong, which is only 52sqkm in size, Durack is nearly 2,000,000sqkm, from Geraldton in the south to the Wheatbelt in the east to the Kimberley in the north. It comprises 60 per cent of WA, 20 per cent of the nation and is bigger than any State or territory except Queensland, which only marginally has an edge. 
With Melissa, we saw the Pluto and the North West Shelf gas facilities, the ammonia plant at Burrup Peninsula and the Dampier port outside Karratha. The sheer scale of these engineering feats is something to behold let alone the incredible leadership you find among the employees. For example, I met Jess, a young mother who manages 500 staff and a mining operation worth $7.5 billion a year. Her pride in her company, her State, and her team was matched only by her obvious capacity.
I see it as part of my role as Resources and Energy Minister to make sure that the people on the east coast fully understand that it is the taxes and export income from these resources projects that help pay for the hospitals in Sydney, the roads in Melbourne and the defence equipment for our nation.
While resources and energy projects have been a feature of the Western Australian economy for more than a century, they are today shining examples of innovation and advanced technology. In Perth I visited BHP Billiton and Rio Tinto\xE2€[TM]s control centres where drilling equipment, trucks and trains are being operated remotely from more than 1500km away. Just a few years ago this would have been the stuff of movies, not the reality it is today.
There is no doubt that the recent high commodity prices and record investment enjoyed by the WA resources and energy sector has corrected in recent times. Nevertheless, there is much to be optimistic about.
 A multibillion-dollar pipeline which includes Roy Hill, Citic iron ore, Rio\xE2€[TM]s Pilbara expansion and the Prelude, Gorgon and Wheatstone LNG projects to name but a few is an economic future that other countries, let alone other States, would envy.
Working with my WA colleagues, State and Federal, I look forward to doing everything we can to encourage more investment and more jobs in this great State and ensure that the resources and energy sector is fully appreciated for the important role that it plays.
Josh Frydenberg is the Federal Minister for Resources, Energy and Northern Australia and the Member for Kooyong.