The recent Deloitte Access Economics report has shown that the work of Geoscience Australia and state and territory geological surveys is critical to Australia’s goal of becoming a global renewable energy giant, according to the Australian Government.
According to the report, based on surveys of industry usage of precompetitive geoscience data and analysis over the previous three years, this information has supported around $76 billion in additional value to the Australian economy and almost 80,000 full-time equivalent jobs in 2021-22 alone.
Minister for Resources and Northern Australia Madeleine King stated that with up to 80% of the nation under-explored, the Federal Government is in a unique position to aid in the discovery of materials critical to the global clean energy transition.
“Our government knows that the path to net zero runs through the resources industry. That is why providing the sector with the tools they need to make exploration and discovery as easy as possible is essential,” Minister King said.
According to Minister King, it has never been more critical to locate the minerals the world requires to develop sustainable energy technologies such as wind turbines, solar panels, and electric vehicle batteries.
“Given the odds of making a successful discovery during exploration are estimated to be around 1 in 1,000, providing better information through government funding for new data and analysis allows us to improve those odds and reduce ecological disturbances through better targeted exploration,” the Minister explained.
“Precompetitive geoscience data and analysis has supported projects that have generated close to $3.7 billion in royalty payments for the year 2021-22 and 3.5 per cent of Australia’s GDP,” she added.
Geoscience Australia’s Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program, according to Minister King, is the Australian Government’s beacon for precompetitive geoscience data and analysis.
“The Exploring for the Future program is Australia’s largest investment in precompetitive geoscience data and analysis and uses a wide range of methods to map Australia’s mineral, energy, and groundwater resource potential, revealing exciting opportunities to make new discoveries,” Minister King continued.
The Minister said the report demonstrated the Federal Government’s strategy of investing in precompetitive geoscience and analysis was paying dividends.
“The numbers are in, and it is clear – the work of Geoscience Australia through Exploring for the Future and other similar initiatives by states and territories, is having a direct, positive impact,” she added.
