Madeleine King (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

Australia is stepping up to lead globally on critical minerals and rare earths. I fully support the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation Amendment (Strategic Reserve) Bill, which gives legislative effect to the Albanese Labor government's landmark commitment to implement the national Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve, as well as the strategic reserve for other fuels and critical supplies. I want to speak mainly about the Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve. This is a $1.2 billion commitment that will form a core component of this government's determined and consistent efforts to position Australia at the forefront of global efforts to bolster the world's reliable and trusted access to critical minerals and rare earths.

In an uncertain world, our resources are instruments of economic resilience and a source of strategic strength and relevance. My department has been developing the Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve, its structure and what is required to get the best outcomes for Australia. This bill before the parliament today was originally designed to enable the Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve. The work that the government has been doing to adjust the financial tools available to Export Finance Australia for the reserve are eminently suitable to be applied to other commodities where supply may be constrained. Adjustments made to this bill to address issues caused by conflict in the Middle East that are affecting Australian supply chains demonstrate how ministers and departments of this government are working together to squarely meet the challenges the nation is facing.

While those opposite simply never miss a moment to politicise a national challenge, this government gets on with the job of securing strategic materials where needed for the benefit of the Australian people. I heard the comments from the leader of the National Party in the House of Representatives. He spoke about the need for fuel-refining capacity in this country. Well, I couldn't agree more. But I also did not see the member for Gippsland or the now leader of the Nationals in the House of Representatives be so keen to support Western Australia's fuel security when BP announced its closure in 2020, in Kwinana. So maybe that reflects on their record in government, where they saw four fuel refineries in this country go out of business.

This government, this Albanese Labor government, is taking immediate steps to address the immediate challenge of fuel security. I want to take this moment to thank my friend and colleague the Minister for Trade and Tourism, Don Farrell, and his whole team, for his cooperation on the amendments to the EFA bill and also my friend and colleague the Minister for Climate Change and Energy and his team for the work they have all done to make sure this important national action is taken. In relation to the critical minerals part of this reserve, it reinforces Australia's role as a trusted supplier of the commodities the world needs, and it signals Australia's clear eyed intent to forcefully step-up to diversify global critical minerals supply chains.

Critical minerals are vital for Australia's economy, for its national security and for a future made in Australia. But Australia knows, as our friends and partners across the world also know, that the playing field is not fair. Australia has some of the largest deposits of critical minerals in the world, and it is a conundrum that substances we talk about so often are not well understood. They exist in most products that we use every single day and nearly every moment, and they are essential to our national defence. Yet many do not perform well in what commentators refer to as the open market. That is because an open international market for low-volume rare earths and critical minerals is a mirage.

Market dominance, opaque trading arrangements and trade bans make for uneven playing fields. It's a field so uneven it is unplayable. As the US vice-president said at the Critical Minerals Ministerial convened by the Secretary of State in Washington in February, which I attended:

… the international market for critical minerals is failing.

…   …   …

… consistent investment is nearly impossible, and it will stay that way so long as prices are erratic and unpredictable.

Supply chains are brittle and are driven by forces beyond any individual country's control. This bill that we bring to the House today is an important step to take back some of that control.

The bill gives Export Finance Australia new tools to deliver the Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve, including offtake agreements with fixed or floating prices, trading in forward-offtake contracts, intermediary demand and supply aggregation, physical stockpiling and contracts for difference. These tools will ensure the reserve can meet demand, deliver offtake, virtually or physically stockpile critical minerals and provide some price certainty. Importantly, the reserve gives Australia the tools to construct financing arrangements between Australia's strategic partners and the private sector to build out critical minerals supply chains.

We undertook to establish the reserve by the second half of this year, but the bill is now before the House to address the immediate challenge of fuel security and our future economic and industrial security as well. This demonstrates our government's commitment to building a strong critical minerals industry and meeting the challenges facing the sector. The reserve will operate imminently, but its start date is in the hands of this parliament. I encourage the opposition and the crossbench in the other place to work with this government to get it up and running as soon as possible. I know the opposition has, this morning, agreed to support this bill. I'm yet to hear comment on the critical minerals part of that, so we will surely get comment on that soon.

Critical minerals are vital inputs for defence technologies on which our security depends. As the government announced in January, the reserve will initially focus on antimony, gallium and rare earth elements. They are also essential to clean energy technologies and advanced manufacturing. Secure supply of these minerals will support not only the development of our own capabilities but also our close partners. But these minerals are just the starting point. The government will update the reserve's target minerals over time as market dynamics, strategic interests and geopolitical situations evolve.

The reserve builds on the work this government has done to secure investment in our critical minerals sector from day one. Since June 2022 this government has supported the industry to create more secure jobs here in Australia and to bolster our economic resilience. We have invested more than $28 billion in critical minerals and rare earths, including $7½ billion for production tax incentives to encourage onshore processing, $5 billion for the critical minerals facility to help get projects off the ground, $1 billion for critical minerals investments by the National Reconstruction Fund and $500 million earmarked for such projects through the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility. We've also, very importantly, provided $3.4 billion to Geoscience Australia for the Resourcing Australia's Prosperity program to find the next generation of critical minerals deposits, more than $150 billion in various grants programs and also funding to investigate really important common-user critical minerals processing facilities with state and territory governments.

The Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve positions Australia to collaborate even more closely with our key partners around the world. Over the last four years, we have worked with our counterparts internationally to advance our shared interests in these commodities. This is a global challenge, and Australia is at the forefront and playing a leading role. Australia's landmark framework on critical minerals and rare earths with the United States will unlock a $13 billion pipeline of projects. I want to take this moment to acknowledge the work of the president and chair of the US export-import bank, John Jovanovic, who works with our CEO of the EFA, John Hopkins. Together, they are collaborating and cooperating on these projects and doing excellent work to grow this industry.

Our agreement with the United States is in addition to agreements with Canada, Japan, Germany, the United Kingdom, France and the European Union as well as our formal membership to the Quad critical minerals initiative and, very importantly, the G7 critical minerals production alliance. We remain committed to working with our international partners to diversify global supply chains and devise joint solutions to the challenges facing critical minerals markets. This is not only in the world's interests but also in the interests of industries and workers here in Australia.

Both our deposits of traditional commodities, such as iron ore, coal and gold, and our deposits of critical minerals and rare earths are the envy of the world. The resources sector of Australia has delivered security, prosperity and strategic relevance in a difficult world. That was built through sheer hard work and commitment by generations of Australians. Despite what some might say when they miss the point of Donald Horne's now immortal words, it sure wasn't luck. Australia will continue to mine our traditional commodities and our strategically important critical minerals and rare earths. This government, through the strategic reserve and our extensive work, is ensuring we match our geological advantage and our enormous capability in the resources industry with a strategy fit for a changing world—one that builds our industrial and strategic capability while strengthening our communities. We will capitalise on this opportunity to create secure jobs at home here in Australia and to take a global lead in diversifying the world's supply chains.

I support all aspects of the strategic reserve within this bill. It ensures our fuel security as well as security of other strategic materials and will ensure our security of strategic critical minerals and rare earths. Australia, under the leadership of this government, is stepping up to take responsibility to lead globally on critical minerals and rare earth elements, and I commend the bill to the House.

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