Federal Minister for Resources and Northern Australia, Madeleine King, delivered a ministerial statement to Parliament highlighting the importance of Australia’s resources industry in helping the world lower emissions and urging the sector to work towards lowering its own emissions to help Australia achieve its goal of net zero emissions by 2050.
Ms King said in order to decarbonise, the world needs our resources industry and Australia’s critical minerals.
“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,” Ms King said.
“Unlocking the full potential of our critical minerals endowments is a core part of realising our ambition to be a renewable energy superpower.”
Ms King said traditional resources such as gas, iron ore, bauxite and coal will also be crucial to help manufacture the technologies that will ultimately bring down emissions in Australia and around the world.
Gas has a unique role in the transition, supporting renewable energy to displace thermal coal in electricity grids while energy storage solutions like batteries and hydroelectricity were scaled up.
Ms King said Australia needs a pipeline of new projects to build a workforce with future-facing skills, needs to leverage Australia’s world-leading scientists and mining equipment and technology sector and to invest in value-adding capabilities.
The sector also needs to work to make sure it meets community expectations – with genuine partnerships with First Nations people – by protecting the environment, and through a workplace culture that respects women and prioritises workplace safety.
Minister King said the resources sector was responsible for around one-fifth of Australia’s emissions, and it will need to play its part for Australia to meet 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,” Ms King said.
“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.”
Ms King said she would soon release Australia’s new Critical Minerals Strategy, which will help grow the sector and reflect the important role critical minerals can play in the move to net zero.
