Business commentator Terry McCrann says coal, gas and iron ore have been “critical to underwriting the prosperity of Australia”.

“When we talk about that, this is not just some cold economic statistic, this is not just talking about money and profits to companies and to investors,” Mr McCrann told Sky News host Cory Bernardi.

“These are the things that finance our health care system.

“If we don’t have the revenues from these industries, if we don’t have the tax revenues from these industries, it would be that much harder to finance all the things we want to spend money on, from the health care system to schools.”