MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Thank you, Minister Hodgson for inviting me as Australia's Minister for Resources to participate in this important G7 discussion and to Minister Dabrusin as well as co-host. And I also want to thank Elder Mr Winderhuck for a very kind acknowledgement of his country this morning. It's also tradition in Australia to acknowledge the connection of First Nations peoples to the land in their space, the traditional owners. The Australian geological survey that I'm responsible for, Geoscience Australia, always acknowledges that Australia's First Nations people are first miners, mappers and navigators and I thank them for it. 

Friends, Australia's geology is a gift of nature and time. But enabling safe, practical, sustainable extraction and use of the minerals we acknowledge the work of many decades of Australia's world-leading resources sector. And the combination of these two makes Australia's participation in these discussions vital and welcome. Friends, the challenges before us are significant, interconnected and immediate and for none more than our friends in Ukraine. And I would like to state here, of course, that Australia as the rest of us stands for the people of Ukraine in this desperately hard time for you all.

We come together at an important moment for our shared energy and environmental future. Climate change is placing pressure on communities and ecosystems. Adaptation, resilience are essential to security and prosperity. The global shift to renewable energy can deliver stronger economies, cleaner industries and better lives. And countries represented in this room are working to deliver cleaner and more affordable energy while addressing the growing impacts of climate change. 

At the same time, it's been recognised early global energy demand is rising. We need to scale up investment in clean technologies, as well as vital traditional and transitional energy resources while ensuring energy is affordable and reliable for communities, households and industry. The energy transition is vitally important to global security and prosperity, but it is important to acknowledge that the widespread community support for the energy transition will be lost if households, businesses and industries do not have the energy they need as we progress on a sensible, sustainable pathway to a net-zero economy by 2050. And this is a commitment that the Australian Government has enshrined in legislation. 

Australia is and will remain a reliable and stable and trusted supplier of energy to our region and to the world. Australia exports into Asia and beyond and that plays a significant role in regional energy security. Australia is proud of our energy exports and the power that they supply the great cities of Asia, in particular our friends in Japan and the Republic of Korea. Gas has evolved as part of this energy transition story and regional energy security of the Indo-Pacific. Last year the Australian Government released a Future Gas Strategy which mapped out the longer-term role gas will play in helping Australia and our partners in the region reach our emissions reduction net-zero goals. Gas has an important role to play in supporting and firming renewable energy, but also particularly relevant to our discussions here in Toronto in providing the high heat energy source that is needed to power critical minerals and rare earths processing. Australia is deepening our cooperation with G7 partners to help meet the shared challenges of diversifying critical minerals supply chains and as a globally significant critical minerals producer, we have the geology and the expertise to help the world rapidly diversify critical minerals supply chains. And of course, we have endorsed the G7 Critical Minerals Action Plan in June. 

The Australian Government is working with like-minded partners such as the US, Japan, the Republic of Korea, the United Kingdom, the European Union, Germany, Italy and France to attract investment into projects that build critical minerals processing capacity and diversify those supply chains.

The challenges are great, but the opportunities are greater. By working together, we can demonstrate that energy security, environmental stewardship and supply chain diversification and strength go hand in hand, and they will deliver a better future for us all. Thank you so much.