Dan Repacholi (Hunter, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Australia is a country which has a lot of minerals. We have been blessed with vast quantities of valuable and useful minerals and this has helped us to become the developed and relatively wealthy country that we are lucky to be in today. These minerals still have so much to offer us, and it is only a Labor government that will do what is needed to make sure that, with the help of our critical minerals, Australia continues to move forward and remains the prosperous country that we are now.

The recent budget again showed that this government cares about resources in this country, the sector itself, the way that the sector operates and those who work in the sector. In this budget, we committed $80.5 million to develop Australia's critical minerals sector to assist and support in the transition to net zero, drive economic growth and create high-value jobs. This builds on our announcement last year to develop a new national critical minerals strategy, which will be released soon by the Minister for Resources.

There is a true contrast between us and the lot opposite, and it is really a contrast between a sensible, capable and competent government run by the adults and a tired, incompetent government driven by its own motives. Unlike those opposite, we actually took the time to consult with industry, experts and communities, including traditional owners, and ensured they were provided an opportunity to have their say on what is important for this sector. That is exactly what the sector, which is so important to our nation, needed—a government which wants to hear from them, a government which listens to what is important to them and a government which actually cares. The result of this will be displayed when the strategy is announced. It will outline the government's priorities for the development of the critical mineral sector, including how Australia can create economic opportunities across the nation, seize the opportunities of the net zero transformation and establish robust, sensible and diverse supply chains.

We want to secure strategic and commercial partnerships to develop new, diverse and resilient supply chains underpinned by critical minerals processed in Australia. We also want to help grow and mature Australia's critical minerals sector through improved and increased access to high-value overseas markets. That's why we've announced $57.1 million for the international partnership program. This includes a $40 million grant program, which will leverage the co-investment between Australia and like-minded partners to support projects that can develop an end-to-end supply chain, and $17.1 million towards chain studies to attract investment, secure tangible strategic supply partnerships and shape emerging market rules and norms to ensure Australian projects compete on a level playing field. The Critical Minerals Office does important work to coordinate, optimise and prioritise activities and actions across the government in support of growing Australia's critical minerals sector. This work is extremely valuable, so we are providing $23.4 million till 2027 to extend the operation of the Critical Minerals Office to ensure it can continue to do the work it does to help us grow our critical minerals sector.

But when it comes to resources, it's not just critical minerals that this government helped to prioritise in the budget; it's also gas. We have committed $37.5 million through four measures to help the gas sector thrive. We are providing $12 million for a net-zero-ready regulatory framework to make sure that Australia's regulatory framework is fit for purpose to deliver certainty for our investors. We are investing $4.5 million to develop a road map for establishing a decommissioning industry in Australia so that we can recycle and dispose of materials here. This is a multibillion dollar opportunity and a chance to service demand in Australia and the Asia Pacific. This means jobs for Australians, and this government won't let that chance slip by.

Resources are important in all parts of Australia, and we are providing $14.3 million to support emissions reduction in the Queensland energy sector. We're also providing further funding to help decommission the Northern Endeavour floating Production Storage and Offtake facility. Resources are an important part of our country. They have always been pivotal and will always remain so—perhaps even more now going forward. If you want to see a region that's built on the value of our resources, come to the Hunter and look at communities like mine. What I say to my community is this: while people want to buy our coal we will always supply our coal.

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