Australia’s mining industry is uniquely positioned to lead the world’s efforts to decarbonise and achieve net zero emissions by 2050, according to the Minerals Council of Australia (MCA).
In a statement, the MCA said that the world would need vast amounts of minerals and metals to attain this aim. By 2030 alone, the MCA added that 50 new lithium mines, 60 new nickel mines, and 17 new cobalt mines would have to be built to address the need for electrical storage.
In its 2023-24 pre-Budget submissions, the MCA urges the Australian Government to take advantage of this once-in-a-generation opportunity by creating the ideal business and regulatory environment to draw the estimated additional US$100 billion in annual global mining investment needed to achieve net zero emissions by 2050.
According to the MCA, although considerable, this does not guarantee Australia’s economic opportunity.
The MCA said Australia’s vulnerability to competition from resource-rich economies would only rise as they rush to produce the minerals and metals required to achieve zero emissions worldwide.
The MCA stated that the Federal Government’s policymaking should prioritise corporate growth and investment to attract a large amount of this investment, creating tens of thousands of new regional employment.
The MCA added that workplace relations, tax, environment, climate change, and energy regulations that put unexpected costs on the mining industry jeopardise capital investment, which underpins the mining industry’s contribution to the economy and worldwide decarbonisation efforts.
According to the MCA, Australia needs increased investment throughout the mining value chain to boost economic performance and contribute to the objective of net zero emissions by 2050. This will include the following:
- no new or additional taxes imposed on the industry, and the corporate tax rate will be reduced to the OECD average for all enterprises;
- workplace relations rules that allow businesses to collaborate with employees to boost productivity and salaries;
- changes to the safeguard mechanism that enables a sustainable reduction in emissions by 2030 while retaining the industry’s international competitiveness as part of an efficient transition to nett zero emissions by 2050;
- changes to the safeguard mechanism that enables a sustainable reduction in emissions by 2030 while retaining the industry’s international competitiveness as part of an efficient transition to net zero emissions by 2050;
- government collaborating with the industry to expand trade and investment opportunities, including promoting Australian mining’s excellent environmental, social, and governance performance;
- government collaborating with the sector to better target skills and supply excellent education and training to meet the industry’s workforce requirements; and
- a coordinated approach across federal, state, and territorial governments to regulating disruptive technologies to unlock productivity gains from innovation.
The MCA said Australia needed to take the chance to fully utilise the economic potential of its mineral resources.
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