MINERALS CRUCIAL FOR DEFENCE OF FREEDOM

• Coalition outlines role for critical minerals in defence partnerships
• Uranium should be listed as critical mineral along with copper, zinc and aluminium.
• Need to restore and re-elect mining-friendly senators  in 2025.

Shadow Minister for Resources, Senator Susan McDonald has delivered a bold vision for Australia’s resources future, saying the sector has a vital role to play in defence and in helping the country take a leading role in international partnerships such as AUKUS.

Speaking at a Minerals Week event in Canberra today (WED), Senator McDonald said Australia must drastically increase its output of critical minerals to help our allies’ defence capabilities and to secure supply chains.

She also repeated calls for uranium, copper, zinc, bauxite, alumina, aluminium, potash and phosphate to be added to the government’s Critical Minerals List.

“Australia is blessed with an abundance of critical minerals, and we must position ourselves to take full advantage of this and drive the industry’s expansion,” she said.

“And a government that focuses on national security should also ensure that it has a critical minerals policy that includes those metals essential for defence industries.

“While the focus of this agreement (AUKUS) is often seen from the prism of military perspective – personnel and hardware – it is important to understand that it is  the resources sector that also plays a critical role: energy security, and supply chain security.

“We have the critical minerals the United States and our allies need for research and development, high-tech industries, defence, aerospace and medical research.”

Senator McDonald also urged companies to increase efforts to educate the voting public about the enormous role mining plays in people’s everyday lives, and to help their employees defend their jobs in the face of criticism “at kitchen tables and backyard barbecues”.

She added that returning Coalition members to the Senate – particularly in resources-rich states of Queensland and Western Australia – at the next election was the most effective way to head off Greens influence and protect mining’s future.

“The taxes your industry pays; and the workforces your industries employ, are the greatest advertisement for the resources sector,” she said.

“Properly deployed and properly armed, they become the greatest asset to combat radical anti-mining rhetoric.

“I see in the media concerns about what happens if there is a minority Government after the next election, where the Greens political party controls the balance of power. But, we already have a minority Senate, where the Greens already hold a balance of power.

“We need to remember that the future of the resources sector is equally dependent on a strong and supportive Senate.

“We need to restore those Senate positions.

“Along with my colleagues, we have spent the last two years listening, engaging, and working with you all.

“We know what your sector needs to flourish and to get Australia back on track.”

ENDS