I am deeply saddened by the tragic incident at BMA’s Peak Downs mine this morning, which has claimed the life of one worker and left another seriously injured.

The Albanese Government’s plan to impose a retrospective tax on foreign investment dating back nearly two decades is a reckless cash grab that threatens millions of Australian jobs and damages the nation’s global reputation as a safe place to invest.

In its groundbreaking new report All at Sea: Fuel, War, and Australia’s Achilles’ Heel, the Page Research Centre has outlined a pathway to restoring Australia’s self-sustainability, including incentivising domestic oil drilling, expanding fuel reserves as supply bridges, establishing a dedicated fuel security budget and approving coal-to-liquid pilot plants.

Today’s latest Gas Statement of Opportunity Outlook from the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO) paints a sobering picture about the urgent need to invest in gas in the country, while the Middle East conflict continues to put pressure on global energy supply.

Reports that the Albanese Government is considering a new levy on Australia’s gas and coal exports should alarm every Australian household and business already struggling under Labor’s economic mismanagement.

Labor’s anti-mining regulations, combined with crippling coal royalty rates are forcing job losses and impacting support industries in regional communities, sparking calls for an urgent review.
Shadow Minister for Resources, Senator Susan McDonald said mining companies were preparing to mothball their Queensland assets and had started alerting suppliers that their services were no longer required.

We cherish this country because it affords opportunities like no other. But only – and I stress this point – if we’re governed well. When Australia is governed badly, dreams and ambitions become beyond reach. And that’s what’s happened during the last three years under the Albanese Government.

So mining pays the bills for Australia and I start all of my presentations with that because that is an incredibly important thing to know and I’m not sure that Australians do know that anymore. We certainly know the Treasurer doesn’t know that. And at the budget last year with a $50 billion surplus from windfall prices, he managed in his budget speech to not mention mining at all, much less coal, gas or iron ore. Couldn’t find anywhere to mention that in his speech. That is shocking.

Planned new major Australian resource projects are stalling at more than double the rate of a year ago with new analysis by the Government’s Chief Economist exposing $119 billion of stalled and cancelled projects in the coal, iron-ore and gas sectors.

Shadow Minister for Resources, Senator Susan McDonald has praised coal miner New Hope for weathering a now-abandoned legal storm brought on by the taxpayer-funded Environmental Defenders Office.