ASHLEIGH GILLON: Critical minerals is an issue we're going to be hearing a lot about next week as Anthony Albanese heads to Washington D.C. Let's bring you more on this and bring in the Assistant Minister for Resources and Regional Development, Anthony Chisholm. Senator, appreciate your time. Thanks so much for joining us from Kalgoorlie in the great state of Western Australia. I know you've been touring some processing plants and mines while you're there in WA. Will the Prime Minister, though, be brave enough to say to Donald Trump that decoupling the Australian resources sector from China is pretty well completely unrealistic, as we just heard from Warren Pearce?

SENATORY ANTHONY CHISHOLM: Well, I think the Prime Minister knows how important our resources industry is to the country, and particularly Western Australia, where I am, and Kalgoorlie's been a shining example of that for 100 years now. But he also knows that the Prime Minister knows that we can have good trading relationships with America and China and indeed our international counterparts at the same time, including Europe. So, we understand that we need to get that balance right. It's one that we've been striving to meet since we've been in government. And I know from my engagement in critical minerals that there is enormous appetite from America, but I recently met with my German counterpart as well, and there's enormous appetite from Germany, not only in our critical minerals, but also in that downstreaming processing as well. And that's something that I was able to observe here with the Lynas plant here in Kalgoorlie, which is relatively new. And that's, I think, a great example of what Australia can do when it comes to critical minerals, the opportunity it can create and also the demand for it around the world. They've got agreements with Korea, they've got agreements with America, and that's what we see for the future of our country.

ASHLEIGH GILLON: As we've been discussing on the program, the Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve. The details around that are pretty thin on the ground at the moment. Obviously, a task force is, is working to get this up and running. A deadline's been set, the end of 2026, to do so. Does that need to be fast-tracked? Do we need to speed that process up so that we can actually fly the flag of the reserve to allies like the US and have something concrete to propose?

ANTHONY CHISHOLM: I think the important thing, Ash, is to get that proposal right. And that's what we've been working on, and the Prime Minister's department have been leading that, along with the Department of Resources as well. We know that there is enormous interest in this, and it's something that companies and also other people who are investing in this space have been having input into. So, we think it's an important process to go through. I'm sure that if there was something that we could do earlier, then the government would be prepared to do that. But we want to be thorough. We know it's important, we know it can make a tremendous difference and we're really pleased that those people who see it as significant are willing to engage with us on this so we can get it right and can have that influence that we want to see more mines being developed, but also we have more of that downstream processing which is so important for jobs and economic opportunity as well.

ASHLEIGH GILLON: Chinese companies play a key role in processing minerals. They are working on a lot of the projects here in Australia. How awkward does that make things when it comes to these discussions with Anthony Albanese and Donald Trump in terms of the importance of China to Australia's resources sector?

ANTHONY CHISHOLM: Well, I think what Australians know is that it’s for us to develop our resources, and we've obviously been doing that for over a century now. We often rely on foreign investment to make that happen, and there's no doubt that's going to be the case for critical minerals. We see that there's enormous demand right around the world, so we know that from America, but we also know it from Europe and other like-minded countries as well. So, we feel as though we can get those settings right. We've been very good, and the Prime Minister is obviously very experienced at how he's handled these international relationships. So, we know that we can get those right. And having that diversity of trade was proven in recent years and how important it is to have that diversity so that we can ensure that we can have that trading - as a trading nation, we can ensure that our materials, our minerals, our food, our wine, etc. has a market to get to that's reliable, and we could all benefit from that as a country, which is significant.

ASHLEIGH GILLON: The former American Ambassador Kim Beazley has called for critical minerals to form another pillar of the AUKUS agreement. Does that idea resonate with you? Would you like to see more of a focus on the security aspect of critical minerals rather than just the economic lens?

ANTHONY CHISHOLM: I don't think there's any doubt that that's going to be a key driver in terms of focus on critical minerals. There obviously is a lot for the defence component, but talking to Lynas today, there's just so much of the critical minerals and what they're used for. So, renewable energy, batteries, electric cars. So, we know that there's enormous demand. Defence is going to be a key component of that. That's going to drive investment. But we want to get those settings right. We know that we have an enormous resource right across the country. So, if we get those settings right, we get that investment that we need, and we can ensure that Australia becomes a place known for its reliability in critical minerals, but also want to have a focus on that downstream processing because we know that creates jobs as well.

ASHLEIGH GILLON: Anthony Chisholm joining us live there from Kalgoorlie, WA. Thanks so much for your insights. Appreciate that.