Minister defends coal industry after call to ban new mines to save reef

Josh Frydenberg says coal 'vitally important' after former Great Barrier Reef official calls said its future depended on an end to mining

Josh Frydenberg has defended Australia's coal industry as "vitally important" days after a former Great Barrier Reef authority chief called for a ban on new mines.

Speaking after a forum on the reef with state and territory ministers in Sydney on Friday, the federal environment minister said other countries would simply "fill the void" if Australia did not export coal.