Australian treasurer Chalmers offers support to miners

Chalmers told the World Mining Congress in Brisbane, Queensland that the resources sector was a "force for good".Chalmers wants Australia to become a critical minerals superpower and wants to help it get there.However, he said nothing about any changes to the permitting regimes that are delaying mining projects from getting off the ground.The simple fact is meeting the demands of global decarbonisation will require more copper to be mined in the next few years than has ever been mined before.To do that will require a lot of new mines but the permitting processes are getting clogged already.Chalmers told the congress that he was a big fan of what it had done for the country.FandomIt was clear that he was a bigger fan of all that lovely revenue the mining sector pumped into the Australian economy, helping his government forecast its first budget surplus for 15 years.In fact, Chalmers said, that surplus would likely be larger than the government forecast thanks to the strong prices Australia's mineral commodity exports were receiving."They are bringing in about A$460 billion a year," he said."That accounts for about two-thirds of our exports."We expect to see mining volumes grow."The contribution of your sector to the budget has been critical."The treasurer wants mining to keep the good times rolling and believes the global energy transformation will allow it to do that."A strong and successful energy transition will be built on a strong resources sector," Chalmers said."The scale of the task is formidable. But we have what the world needs when the world needs it."The role of critical minerals is a generation-defining opportunity for our country and for Queensland and for your sector and one we can't afford to miss."Generation-defining opportunityPart of the challenge will be getting the mining, the processing, the manufacturing opportunities integrated."Success is not guaranteed," Chalmers said. "It's not preordained."In the future Australia needs to shore up the resilience of its supply chains, make the right investments and link critical minerals up with broader efforts to provide growth through energy transition.On the first point, the resilience of supply chains relies on diversity.At the moment the bulk of the world's critical minerals come from China.Chalmers said that was why the Australian critical minerals sector had to grow to help shore up the resilience of those supply chains.He is hoping US President Joe Biden can convince US Congress to allow the US Inflation Reduction Act to extend funding to critical minerals processing projects in Australia.Chalmers pointed to the A$2.5 billion the Australian government has to invest in critical minerals projects, as well as A$57 million to set up international engagement.While that sounds paltry alongside the US$270 billion the US government has at its disposal through the IRA, many speakers at the World Mining Congress, including BHP chief executive Mike Henry, have backed the Australian government's critical minerals plan.Open for businessChalmers was quick to point out that Australia was not taking a protectionist approach to its critical minerals."None of what we're doing involves locking the world out," he said."It's about finding ways to work together. We can benefit from the Inflation Reduction Act."Chalmers said he was aware of some of the headwinds miners are encountering, such as a shortage of skills."We know our potential on critical minerals will run out unless you have access to the workers you need," he said."We're working with the states and territories to lift education standards."[Home affairs minister] Clare O'Neil is changing the migration system to attract the best and brightest workers."Chalmers said the government had put A$9.5 billion into building new homes to house those workers."Our vision is to go one step further than extracting and exporting," he said."Backing in refining, processing and advanced manufacturing will underpin efforts to become a critical minerals superpower.‘Without Australian mining we know we won't achieve supply chain security. We won't get to net zero."The dream of becoming a renewable energy superpower will be impossible to achieve."The way ahead is to work together."We'll try to partner with you whenever and wherever we can."

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Australian treasurer Chalmers offers support to miners

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