The nation's mining industry lobby has come out in support of the Prime Minister's blunt declaration that resources belong to the Australian people - saying: "We never cry poor".

"We pay the taxes and royalties for the privilege of developing what is Australia's natural endowment," said Mitchell Hooke, the head of the Minerals Council of Australia, during an interview on ABC radio

Prime Minister Julia Gillard

Julia Gillard told a dinner hosted by the council last night that Australians deserved to benefit from the mining boom - and that the nation's resources belonged to its people and not the government or mining companies.

Mr Hooke said Ms Gillard's remarks were well received - and that the industry had never contested the fact the sovereign state owned the minerals.