Tania Lawrence (Hasluck, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Resources. How will the National Reconstruction Fund create jobs in the critical minerals sector?

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

I thank the member for Hasluck for her great question and I thank her for the work she's doing here in this place. Mr Speaker, as you know and as we all know, Australia is rich with valuable, critical resources, and they represent an incredible opportunity not just for our nation but for, indeed, the whole world. Our critical minerals and rare earth elements are essential for net zero technology, including electric vehicles, wind turbines, battery storage and solar panels. The road to global net zero passes through Australia's resources industry, and in particular our emerging critical minerals and rare earth elements sector. The demand for critical minerals will only increase with world demand for lithium forecast to rise by over 40 per cent over the following two years, reaching over a million tonnes by 2024 and three million tonnes by 2030.

Critical minerals are transforming and renewing communities across the country. Take Greenbushes in Western Australia for example, the largest lithium mine in the world. It is also Western Australia's oldest and longest operating mine. It used to mine for tin. It's seen ups and down in the economy and the use of tin, but now lithium mining is supporting that community once again as the world demand for lithium creates more jobs.

Critical minerals present an unmissable opportunity for our nation, one that this government will not let pass by. Mining creates jobs. We know that. There are over 270,000 jobs in the resources sector across the country. Minerals processing and adding value to what we mine creates jobs. The NRF and the value adding in resources fund will create jobs. Taking our critical minerals and rare earth elements along the value chain will create jobs that are high in value, in high-tech industries, and are well paid and they will help the world decarbonise. And what do those opposite say? Well, they say no.

The $1 billion for the value adding in resources fund, as part of the $15 million National Reconstruction Fund, will ensure a greater share of our raw materials is processed here. We seek to support businesses that will secure capital that will allow them to expand their workforce—create jobs. That's what we want to do in this country, bring manufacturing capability back and ensure we process more minerals here.

This government was elected on a mandate to secure the National Reconstruction Fund and the value adding in resources fund. Those opposite say no. It is absolutely inconceivable that those opposite oppose job creating, nation building legislation. They used to support the Critical Minerals Facility, they used to support the critical minerals industry but now they just say no. Well, it's not good enough. We will create a critical minerals industry.