The Chamber of Minerals and Energy (CME) of WA has called on the Government to keep production of critical minerals in Australia competitive and sustainable.
CME chief executive officer Rebecca Tomkinson said policy makers in Australia had a crucial role to play in positioning the nation’s critical mineral assets.
Tomkinson said that policy efforts should be focused on WA’s competitive strength as a leading provider of critical minerals.
“Western Australia is already a world leading jurisdiction for the upstream production of critical and battery minerals globally, a factor that will continue to increase in importance to our nation’s trade partners,” she said.
“But Australia is a high-cost environment by international comparison, and State and Federal policy initiatives supporting the further development of the sector fall short of the scale on offer in jurisdictions such as Europe and the United States of America.
Tomkinson also said that WA critical minerals producers were under increasing pressure to rapidly decarbonise their operations, which would require access to clean sources of energy at an unprecedented scale.
The CME has made a series of recommendations for the state and federal governments to enhance Australia’s critical minerals capabilities, including:
- active facilitation to drive critical minerals projects that are in the national interest
- action by Government to identify and communicate market opportunities flowing from the incentives and legislation in other jurisdictions
- addressing cost competitiveness for capital investments through measures such as grants and tax incentives
- establishing regional clean energy hubs and transmission infrastructure to support decarbonisation of critical minerals projects
- maintaining a focus on our areas of competitive strength and ensure policies recognise the importance of upstream supply to our downstream ambitions.
“Right now is the time to capitalise on the opportunities in front of us,” Tomkinson said.
