CME recently had the privilege of hosting a breakfast event at which Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced several initiatives related directly to the WA mining and resources sector.
The initiatives – which will be adopted if the Coalition Government is re-elected – form part of a comprehensive resources plan and include additional funding for WA’s emerging critical minerals industry (specifically lithium and graphite processing plants), a $140 million investment across Pilbara and Kwinana hydrogen hubs to accelerate large-scale development of this nascent energy source, and the selection of Curtin University as Australia’s first ‘Trailblazer University’ with a focus on developing the next generation of Australian critical minerals and downstream processing industries.
It was also pleasing to receive a commitment from the Prime Minister that there will be no new mining or carbon taxes and stability of fuel tax arrangements, should his government be re-elected.
The event was extremely well attended, and it was excellent to see such a strong cross-section of CME member companies turn out to hear what was being announced.
Big six weeks for our economics team
The mining and resources sector’s contribution to WA and the nation has been very much in the spotlight over the past six weeks.
In late March, CME released our economic fact sheet data, which showed that a sample of 56 CME member companies contributed more than $100 billion to the Australian economy in 2020-21. You can view a full break-down of all our economic contribution data, including region-by-region fact sheets, at the dedicated page on the CME website. We are grateful for the assistance of the member companies who contributed data towards this undertaking.
Meanwhile, the Federal Budget a couple of days later again underscored the importance of WA mining and resources to our prosperity as a nation. It was very encouraging to see significant announcements to accelerate critical minerals projects, encourage the development of low-emissions technology and minerals processing, streamline regulatory processes and grow Australia’s workforce of the future. Special mention to Linh Nguyen who piloted much of our Federal Budget content immediately before going on maternity leave, and also Liz Crompton, who recently joined our team from the Resources Industry Training Council and was working on the Budget for the first time in her new role.
And then, of course, we have the State Budget this week, from which we’ll deliver detailed analysis identifying key announcements and opportunities for our member companies.
Contact: Adrienne LaBombard, Manager – Industry Competitiveness
Email: a.labombard@cmewa.com
