Federal Minister for Resources Madeleine King has released Australia’s new Critical Minerals Strategy in an effort to grow the country’s critical minerals wealth.
One of the first policy decisions under the Strategy will see the Government target $500 million of new investment into critical minerals projects through the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility.
A process to update the critical minerals list has also been green lit and has been widely supported by the industry.
“The new Critical Minerals Strategy outlines the enormous opportunity to develop the sector and new downstream industries which will support Australia’s economy and global efforts to lower emissions for decades to come,” King said.
“While the potential is great, so too are the challenges. The Strategy makes it clear our natural minerals endowment provides a foot in the door, but we must do more to create Australian jobs and capitalise on this unique opportunity.”
The Strategy will provide a framework that the Government will use to guide future policy decisions and maximise the national benefits of the country’s critical minerals and according to the Federal Government, increasing exports of critical minerals could create upwards of 260,000 new jobs.
The Strategy highlights six focus areas:
- Developing strategically important projects, with targeted support
- Attracting investment and building international partnerships, to optimise trade and investment settings for priority technologies
- First Nations engagement and benefit sharing, to strengthen engagement and partnership with First Nations people and communities, and to improve equity and investment opportunities for First Nations interests
- Promoting Australia as a world leader in environmental and social governance (ESG) standards
- Unlocking investment in enabling infrastructure and services
- Growing a skilled workforce.
The full Critical Minerals Strategy is available to be read online.