Madeleine King (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Northern Australia) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Pearce for her question. The Albanese Labor government's production tax incentive for critical minerals will support the onshore processing, rather than having these commodities shipped overseas for their refining. It will create secure jobs and a resilient economy as we capitalise on the world's soaring demand for critical minerals. It is a significant policy that backs Australia's resources sector. It is one of the biggest resources announcements in a budget in a generation. The resources industry called for the production tax incentive, we worked with them on it and we will deliver it.

But there are threats to delivery of the production tax credit, and they are all sitting over there. The coalition recently has been speaking on the Future Made in Australia legislation. Twenty-nine Liberal and National MPs have spoken so far on that legislation, and in a rare outbreak they have all stuck to the script and all opposed the production tax incentive. They want higher taxes. Those opposite have stood up and turned their backs on the resources sector of this country. When they had the opportunity to talk about critical minerals as part of the Future Made in Australia framework, they totally ignored it. Barely any of them spoke about it. They spent more time talking about nuclear power and uranium than they spoke about critical minerals and the tax incentives offered to the resources industry. They oppose a costed, responsible, industry led response to the critical minerals industry's geopolitical challenges. They call it welfare for billionaires; well, they support an absolutely friendless, uncosted, unknown policy to have nuclear power stations right around the country in places the Leader of the Opposition has failed to visit.

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