House debates

Monday, 20 March 2023

Questions without Notice

International Relations: Australia and India

3:02 pm

Photo of Tracey RobertsTracey Roberts (Pearce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Resources. How will the Albanese-Labor government's partnership with India create economic opportunities for Australians, particularly in the critical minerals and resources sector?

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

I want to thank the member for Pearce for her excellent question. The member for Pearce represents so many Indian Australians in the North Metropolitan area of Western Australia, and I congratulate her on the excellent work she does with that community. India is one of Australia's most significant partners in the Indo-Pacific region. Geographically we share the Indian Ocean, and geologically we share a tectonic plate. But, most importantly, we share a belief in democracy and democratic values, and our relationship is characterised by strong people-to-people links.

This government's respect for those shared values and interests between our nations was demonstrated in the recent visit to India by the Prime Minister, on which the trade minister and I accompanied him. The Prime Minister led a very significant delegation of Australian business leaders to meet with their Indian counterparts, and the trade minister and I met with relevant Indian ministers, because, as well as our shared values, India represents an unmissable economic opportunity for Australia. India is set to become the world's most populous country this year, and in coming years it will become the world's third-largest economy. While India is already Australia's sixth-largest trading partner, we see enormous potential and economic opportunity for our two nations.

The Albanese-Labor government recognises the importance of critical minerals to net zero, and so too does the Indian government. In particular, India's ambitious goals of 50 per cent renewables and 30 per cent electric vehicles by 2030 provide an excellent opportunity for us to work together on the extraction and processing of critical minerals. This is an opportunity the government supports through the Australia-India Critical Minerals Investment Partnership, which I signed with India in 2022. It was indeed an absolute honour to meet Prime Minister Modi, the leader of the world's largest democracy, but I also enjoyed productive meetings with ministers in the Indian government to discuss critical minerals and the transition to net zero. It included meeting with the Minister for Power and New and Renewable Energy, Mr Singh, and my counterpart, the honourable Minister for Coal, Mines and Parliamentary Affairs, Shri Pralhad Joshi. While I was in India, Minister Joshi and I announced that we had completed the first phase of the work under the Critical Minerals Investment Partnership between our two nations. Together we have identified five projects, two involving lithium and three involving cobalt, on which the parties involved will proceed to sign non-disclosure agreements and begin undertaking detailed due diligence.

Working together, Australia and India can and will reduce emissions, guarantee energy security and diversify global markets for critical minerals. Both Indian and Australian industry and workers are ready to reap the rewards. There is a massive economic opportunity for our resources sector. Like the Prime Minister, I join in thanking our Indian hosts for their enormous and wonderful hospitality on our recent visit.