Check against delivery

Thanks Rod for the kind introduction – and hello everyone.

It’s a pleasure to be here on Gadigal land for this important forum – and I thank Citi for the opportunity to join today’s discussion on Australia’s resources investment opportunities.

I’d also like to acknowledge my fellow panel members:

• Tony Ottaviano - CEO of Liontown Resources
• Tom O’Leary - CEO of Iluka Resources

It’s a privilege to be here on behalf of my Cabinet colleague, Minister Madeleine King.

Minister King has been busy on the international stage advocating for our resources sector in recent weeks, and I know she is putting our best foot forward at a G7 Energy and Environment Ministers’ Meeting in Canada this week.

I was privileged to be able to attend this Economic Forum last year, but in another capacity where I was joined by Lynas CEO Amanda Lacaze.

But since then, I have been honoured to step into my new role as the Federal Assistant Minister for Resources.

And can I say that it’s a sector which I have long supported.

And I acknowledge the enormous contributions this industry makes to not only our economy, but also to regional communities and the lives of working men and women in which our sector operates in.

Australia is unique among OECD countries in not having had a prolonged recession since the early 1990s.

It’s an achievement that would have been impossible without the contribution of our mining and energy industries.

In the decade to 2023-24, Australia’s mineral resources – iron ore, coal, copper, gold, uranium, and bauxite – generated an extraordinary $2.4 trillion in export revenues.

That’s more than the GDP of Spain.

Resources have underpinned our high living standards – supporting decent wages, quality education, accessible healthcare and strong social services.

Building this economic powerhouse took six decades and billions of dollars in private sector investment.

More will be needed to take our resource industry to the next level – which is to realise our immense critical minerals potential.

But I know that it’s an aspiration of the Prime Minister, Minister King, myself and the broader Government to harness the opportunities ahead.

Our Albanese Government has been working consistently to get our policy settings right.

Through our Future Made in Australia agenda, a $22.7 billion commitment to realise benefits of the transition to Net Zero, we’re ensuring productivity is flowing downstream to power new industries, new technologies, and new opportunities for Australian workers.

Our $17.5 billion Critical Minerals Production Tax incentive will make our downstream processing facilities globally competitive.

The first visit I made as Assistant Minister for Resources in July was to Townsville to visit Vecco Group’s Vanadium Flow Battery Electrolyte Manufacturing Plant, and Graphinex’s Battery Anode Demonstration Facility in Townsville.

This clearly illustrated to me the potential for Australian manufacturing in our downstream processing capability and the opportunities on the horizon.

And I was so pleased to see that Graphinex were one of seven Australian companies to receive a Letter of Interest from the US EXIM Bank to scale up their processing capacity and operations in Australia.

This Framework identifies a pipeline of USD$8.5 billion worth of projects in Australia, including a $3 billion Australian dollar commitment investment over the next six months.

But our efforts have not just been isolated to US-Australia relations.

The Albanese Government has also been working steadily, patiently and consistently with industry and our partners and allies abroad to strengthen global collaboration.

In the past two months alone, I have met with my German counterpart and representatives from France, Sweden, Chile, New Zealand and the US.

What has been clear from all of these discussions is the enormous interest from countries who share our aspiration to build more resilient supply chains at home.

By supplying the world with reliable, responsibly produced resources, we strengthen our alliances, contribute to global energy security, and ensure the prosperity of our friends and allies.

I look forward to today’s discussion on how government and industry can continue working together to keep Australia at the forefront of global resource investment.

Thank you.