Ellie Whiteaker (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Acting Deputy President, I'm sure you know that, recently, Australia and the United States signed a new bilateral framework to secure supply chains in critical minerals and rare earths. It's a historic partnership to create a shared, reliable supply chain for the minerals needed for advanced defence technology and the clean energy transition. The purpose of this is really simple. It's to secure supply with trusted partners, bring more processing and value-adding onshore, reduce reliance on contracted, concentrated global supply chains and strengthen our economic resilience and national security.

Australia has what the world needs. In fact, as you also well know, Acting Deputy President, Western Australia has what the world needs. One of the very first priority projects under this framework is in my home state of Western Australia, at the Alcoa gallium refinery project in Wagerup. This is a groundbreaking project backed by real investment and concrete timelines. The refinery will recover gallium already present in the bauxite processes of Alcoa. During construction, it will support around 200 jobs in the south-west of WA, and, once operating, it will support a few dozen, ongoing, skilled, long-term jobs. When fully operational, Wagerup is expected to produce around 10 per cent of the world's gallium. I'm really thrilled that Minister Ayres is here in the chamber now, because he visited the Wagerup site last week, along with the Prime Minister, Minister King and Assistant Minister Charlton. We were very warmly welcomed by the team at Alcoa, who hosted us and showed us the very site at their plant where this work will happen.

I think Wagerup highlights WA's natural advantages in this space. We have world-leading deposits and decades of experience in responsible extraction. But the next step is really where the opportunity lies: having more processing, refining and manufacturing onshore, with workers right here. WA is well and truly on the road moving in this direction. This gallium project is a powerful signal that global partners see value in our industrial capability, not just our geology. It places Western Australia well and truly at the centre of our critical minerals strategy. Critical minerals underpin almost every technology shaping this century—batteries, semiconductors, medical devices, defence capabilities and renewable energy systems. We know the global demand is steep, but supply chains are under strain. And that's why, here in Australia and in my home state of Western Australia, we can shift that pattern by supporting and investing in onshore processing, new industries and creating long-term local jobs.

This is, of course, part of our broader plan to build a future made in Australia, and ensure our economy is competitive in the clean energy and advanced manufacturing era. For workers and families in Western Australia's south-west, this is about more than just that, though. It's about opportunity. It's about stability. And it's about continuing the long-term industries that have supported our regional communities for a long, long time. One of the things that I think is really special about that particular Alcoa Wagerup plant that we visited last week is that the vast majority of their workforce live locally. This is not a fly-in fly-out worksite. It's well and truly supporting those thriving regional communities in Western Australia's south-west.

Wagerup shows what this future can look like across regional WA and right across our country—modern processing plants backed by secure partnerships and long-term jobs in the communities that have powered Australia for generations. The Albanese government is committed to this work, creating jobs, boosting our economy and investing in a future made in Australia.