Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party, Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

I want to compliment the great work that Geoscience Australia—a fantastic agency in our nation—does. It is a Commonwealth agency that leads efforts across Australia to find new mineral basins. The Australian government is investing $100 million into Geoscience Australia for the Exploring for the Future program. Most of our mineral finds in the past have come from outcropping—looking at rocks that are exposed on the surface. About 70 per cent of Australia has no outcropping, but there is no reason to believe that there wouldn't be just as good mineral finds over that 70 per cent of Australia. That's why we're investing $100 million in new techniques—like aeromagnetic surveys and seismic surveys—to try to uncover those areas and find the new mineral finds that will govern the benefits for the future for Australia. I'm also excited about a memorandum of understanding that we are entering into with the United States Geological Survey to work on these kinds of techniques to provide these minerals to the world and create great future opportunities for our fantastic minerals industry.