A critical minerals reserve proposed for Australia in the wake of sweeping US tariffs on global exports is “not intervention, it’s support”, Resources minister Madeleine King has declared.
“… The reason we need support is because of the thin supply chains and the very opaque international market,” Ms King said addressing questions about the strategic reserve on Monday.
Her comments follow Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s announcement earlier this month of a new economic resilience program, which also includes $1 billion in interest free loans for businesses.
While Ms King provided no new details on the reserve and how it would work, she promised further industry consultation and that it would stand alongside other critical minerals initiatives.
“…The important thing is that there is this important drive to make sure that there will be Australian critical minerals available for Australian industry,” she told Sky News.
Referring to the current global restrictions on critical mineral exports, Ms King continued “that just demonstrates how difficult this industry is and how difficult it is to get started”.
“If we look at the iron ore industry… in Western Australia, state government agreements backed up by Prime Ministerial intervention and participation in trade agreements… is what led to this great success [in iron ore] that we see today…
“The same goes for the critical minerals industry. Governments have to stand up for it, have to get behind it, have to invest in it, so that we bring in more private investment.
“But more importantly, we also get investment from our friends in the region and our like-minded partners that want to also have diverse supply chains in critical minerals and rare earths.”
Ms King also responded to concerns that a Labor government might intervene on export volumes and markets for this contentious sector, saying that the strategic reserve is “one part of the government support”.
Other government initiatives include $7 billion in production tax credits for critical minerals as part of the Future Made in Australia plan. Enabling legislation for the credits, which will come into effect from 2027, passed parliament earlier this year.
“All of these things add up to draw in private investment into that industry, and that’s what we need. What we don’t need is Peter Dutton ripping out $17 billion worth of support…” Ms King said.
The Coalition, which has previously labelled the incentives “billions in handouts to billionaires”, voted against tax credits for critical minerals.
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