The Albanese Labor Government must put partisan politics aside, and urgently include bauxite, alumina and aluminium on Australia’s Critical Minerals List, due to the rising geopolitical risks and the damaging of Australia’s investment environment the Government has presided over.

Along with my colleagues, we have spent the last two years listening, engaging, and working with the resources sector. We know what your sector needs to flourish; to get Australia back on track. A Peter Dutton-led Coalition Government will deliver on that.

We know what needs to be done to deliver and sustain the next mining boom for Australia: Affordable energy; Access to gas; Reduced and streamlined approval processes; Investment certainty; Workable and flexible IR laws. We now need the keys to government. We are ready.

The suspension of BHP’s Nickel West operations is one of the first casualties of Labor’s rushed, fledgling Future Made in Australia policy.

The June 2024 Resources and Energy Quarterly (REQ) release highlights the strong outlook of Australia’s resources sector, however details the need for continued support and investment in our resources sector.

There is a risk of Australia becoming a very principled but very poor country, and this is something we should avoid.

Shadow Minister for Resources, Senator Susan McDonald has questioned the Albanese Government’s genuine desire to back Australian critical mineral interests, saying today’s funding announcement in Gladstone does not reverse the policy failures of the last two years.

After watching Australia’s nickel crisis unfold in January this year, thanks to the Government’s lack of direction in the critical minerals sector, Australia’s copper industry is now under threat.

Senator Susan McDonald, Shadow Minister for Resources, repeated earlier warnings that the Labor Government has been sitting on their hands expecting critical minerals  investors to rush to Australia – which is not the reality of the situation.

Senator McDonald said that “thanks to an expansion of international smelters, copper processing prices have plummeted to lows not seen since the global financial crisis, and international jurisdictions are scrambling to secure supply chains for the mineral.

“I have repeatedly called on the Government to include copper, and many other minerals on the critical minerals list in order to secure international supply chains with partner nations.

“We saw in January the impacts of the Government’s delays, with Australia’s nickel industry suffering major setbacks and the potential for hundreds of Australia workers to lose their jobs.

“If the same situation unfolded for copper, it could be devastating for the future of our critical minerals sector.

“Thanks to Albanese’s anti-business agenda, the resources sector is struggling, despite continuing to prop up Labor’s big-spending budgets.

“Industrial relations laws, skyrocketing input costs following government interventions,  and complicated, burdensome regulatory requirements are stifling investment, yet Labor continues to ignore industry whilst naively assuming that investors will continue to pour money into Australian projects.

“Our minerals will not mine themselves, and it is time for Labor to take real action to support the resources sector, and recognise that critical minerals are not simply inputs for renewables, but are vital for a broad range of uses.”

Shadow Resources Minister, Senator Susan McDonald, has slammed a weak Prime Minister unable to control his Ministers from making bad decisions that have undermined our resources sector and put investments in new major projects under threat.

Shadow Resources Minister, Senator Susan McDonald, has warned the Government that despite their update to the Critical Minerals and Strategic Materials Lists, Australia risks losing investment in critical minerals due to Labor’s lethargy.