An elected Dutton Coalition Government will be a friend of the mining and resources sector by turbocharging jobs and investment opportunities to re-energise the economy and boost growth.
Today, the Coalition has released its detailed and fully costed "Plan for a Strong Resources Industry", including the expansion of the official critical minerals list to include uranium along with zinc, bauxite, alumina, aluminium, potash, phosphate and tin.
The Coalition will also refocus our critical minerals strategy to better align with the defence and strategic needs of Australia and its allies.
This follows the release of the Coalition's National Gas Plan with independent economic analysis confirming it will deliver more Australian gas for Australians. Our balanced energy plan with more gas, more renewables and zero-emissions nuclear will bring down prices for families and industries.
Over the last three years, the Albanese Labor Government has demonised and neglected the mining and resources sector by slowing approvals and wrapping the industry in excessive red and green tape in an attempt to please inner-city Greens voters. In fact, around $120 billion in coal, iron ore and gas projects have been stalled or cancelled in the last year alone putting 48,000 Australian jobs, and the nation's prosperity, at risk.
A Dutton Coalition Government will unlock exploration and drive a new wave of investment in the mining and resources sector. That's why we will:
Unlock exploration and the next wave of investment in our resources sector
Invest $3.4 billion in a 35 year exploration program to map all of Australia
Invest $100 million in the Junior Minerals Exploration Incentive
Preserve our commodity windfalls as a national asset to invest in nation building initiatives and drive growth in the regions
Fix the broken approvals process for projects and cut red and green tape
Attract new investment and rebuild business settings through Investment Australia
Encourage growth of new opportunities in critical minerals and uranium
Expand the Critical Minerals List and Strategy
Accelerate investment through 'FIRB Fast-Track'
Deliver more gas for Australians
Upgrade mining roads to get resources to market faster and safer.
The Leader of the Opposition, the Hon Peter Dutton MP, said Western Australia needs a Prime Minister who has their best interests at heart to ensure it can continue to be an economic powerhouse.
"The biggest risk to Western Australia's future is a Labor-Greens Government. It will send the state, and the entire nation, backwards.
"Western Australia's booming industries like mining and resources have generated revenue and royalties that all Australians have benefitted from.
"I want to make Australia a mining, manufacturing and agricultural powerhouse again. Under a Coalition Government, more mines will be approved, more gas will flow, more farms will flourish and more factories will open. Western Australia is central to that vision."
Shadow Minister for Resources, Senator Susan McDonald, said the Coalition's plan will not only benefit Australia's economy, but also boost our global standing as a trading partner and ally.
"Every dollar the Coalition invested in pre-competitive exploration data delivered up to $1,546 returns to the Australian economy. Our commitment to a $3.4 billion geoscience program builds on our plan to unleash the next wave of mining investment, including through our $100 million extension of the Junior Minerals Exploration Incentive, announced last week.
"Expanding the critical minerals list will underpin our reliability and national security credentials as part of the Quad, AUKUS and Five Eyes, and ensure we have a firm strategy around these key commodities.
"Unlike Labor, which shuns and talks down the resources sector, the Coalition values and champions the industry, its communities and its economic contribution to every Australian. The company tax paid by the resources sector alone is the equivalent of funding the entire Medicare system for all Australians."
Supporting Western Australia as the economic powerhouse of Australia, by investing in the mining and resources sector, is part of the Coalition's plan to get this great state and great nation back on track.
