In a ministerial speech to Parliament, Minister for Resources and Northern Australia Madeleine King outlined the successes and difficulties faced by the Australian resources sector.
Minister King used the statement to describe how Australian resources can assist the world in cutting emissions, and she challenged the industry to work to reduce its own emissions to help Australia achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
Minister King claimed the world needs Australia’s resources sector and critical minerals to decarbonise.
“Australia has vast reserves of critical minerals such as lithium, vanadium, rare earths elements and silicon which are essential to make clean-energy technologies, such as batteries, solar panels and electric vehicles,” Minister King said.
According to Minister King, unleashing the full potential of Australia’s critical mineral endowments is a critical component of being a renewable energy superpower.
The Minister stated that traditional resources like gas, iron ore, bauxite, and coal would also be critical in helping to produce the technology that will eventually reduce emissions in Australia and worldwide.
Gas plays a unique role in the transition, assisting renewable energy to displace thermal coal in power grids while energy storage options such as batteries and hydroelectricity were scaled up.
Minister King said Australia must develop a pipeline of new initiatives, train a workforce with future-oriented skills, collaborate with world-class scientists, and invest in value-added capabilities.
The Australian resources sector also needs to work to ensure that it matches community expectations through true collaborations with First Nations people, environmental protection, and a workplace culture that respects women and prioritises workplace safety.
Minister King stated that the resources sector is responsible for roughly one-fifth of Australia’s emissions and must play a role for Australia to reach its national targets.
“Australian resource projects are already at the leading edge globally in deploying renewables, electrification, methane abatement technologies and carbon capture and storage,” Minister King said.
The Minister added, “While it is up to companies to make the investments needed to take these technologies forward, the government will also play a role. Through the Safeguard Mechanism reforms, we are providing the resources sector with the certainty it needs to invest in technologies and decarbonise its operations.”
Minister King announced that Australia’s new Critical Minerals Strategy, which will support the sector’s expansion and recognise critical minerals’ crucial role in the transition to net zero, would be released soon.
