By Andrew Mackinnon
Last updated: 19th February, 2026
The resources in the ground in Australia, including coal, natural gas, oil (from which petrol (i.e. gasoline), diesel and other by-products of oil are produced), iron ore (from which steel is produced), bauxite (from which aluminium is produced), copper sulfide (from which copper is produced) and many other resources, are owned by the Australian federal government on behalf of Australian citizens, not privately owned mining businesses that extract them.