Introduction

Hello everyone.

It is a pleasure to be here in beautiful Nagoya, the heart of Japan’s advanced manufacturing industry.

Can I begin by acknowledging VIPs and special guests:

• His Excellency the Hon Christopher Dawson AC APM, Governor of WA
• Her Excellency, Professor the Hon Margaret Gardner AC, Governor of Victoria.
• His Excellency Justin Hayhurst, Ambassador to Japan
• His Excellency Kazuhiro Suzuki, Ambassador to Australia
• His Excellency Mr Hideaki Ohmura, Governor of Aichi Prefecture
• Mr Hideo Nakata, Deputy Mayor of Nagoya City

Thank you to the Australia-Japan Business Cooperation Committee and the Japan Australia Business Cooperation Committee for organising this conference, and for inviting me to speak.

Thanks in particular to Mr Michiaki Hirose, Chairman, JABCC, and Peter Grey, President, AJBCC for this opportunity.

Japan is one of the countries I enjoy visiting the most – and not just on ministerial duties. 

Along with my husband, we have been fortunate to have been coming to Japan on holiday for over a decade.

Like so many Australians, we love visiting this country because in so many ways it is so different from our own. 

For instance, I am from the state of Western Australia, which takes up 2.5 million square kilometres but it only snows – very lightly -for a few hours every other year on one single hill in the South West. 

Hundreds of people come from far and wide and will drive hundreds of kilometres, to hike up Bluff Knoll, near Albany, just for the chance to maybe see just a tiny bit of snow! 

So it is no wonder those of us from WA are so very much in love with our January trips to the remarkable ski fields of Japan.

Of course, I’m not the only Australian skier who is drawn to your world-class ski-fields every winter. 

Record numbers of Australian skiers make the pilgrimage every season, keeping the Embassy and the Mountain ski-patrol busy. 

I’d like to take this opportunity to publicly thank the very able and kind ski-patrol of Nozawa Onsen, who helped get me down the mountain when I took a tumble when I was last here… 

As the Minister for Resources and Northern Australia, I have also visited your country many times on government business.

This is my third trip here as Australia’s Resources Minister.

I relish these trips as it gives me a chance to talk about our close and important relationship. 

Australia and Japan have a strong history of working closely together on resources to the mutual benefit of both our nations. 

We have been doing business with one another for more than a century.

Japan-Australia relations date back to the late 1800s, when Japan began importing Australian coal and wool. 

At around the same time, Japanese immigrants came to Australia to work in a variety of jobs. 

The first ever Japanese citizen to settle in Australia was an acrobat who went on to form a traveling circus.

But the vast majority went on to slightly less glamorous work such as back breaking and risky jobs in sugar cane farming and pearl diving – and they excelled.

In my home state of Western Australia, the contribution of the Japanese to the pearl diving industry lives on through memorials and museums in the historic town of Broome. 

Sadly, many paid the ultimate price, in an industry regarded as one of the nation’s most dangerous.

The Japanese cemetery in Broome is the largest Japanese cemetery in Australia, and one of the largest outside Japan. It dates back to 1896, reflecting our longstanding people to people relationships. 

I visited there just a few weeks ago. It is very moving, and a tribute to the local community that keep the Broome cemetery respectfully cared for in the harsh conditions of the Kimberley. 

Now, Australia and Japan work together and apply our skills to new industries. 

Today, resources and energy are central to our relationship. 

Japan’s demand and investment has underpinned the development of Australia’s resources industry, from coal to iron and liquified natural gas and more recently in critical minerals and rare earths. 

Australia is Japan’s single largest provider of energy, while Japan is our second largest export market for resources and energy. 

These exports, including LNG, iron ore and coal, were worth a remarkable $99 billion Australian dollars in the 2022-23 financial year. 

Importantly, Australian LNG helps provide power to tens-of-millions of Japanese families and businesses across Japan.

It truly is a remarkable part of our shared story that a country of 26 million people is able to support the energy needs of a country of 124 million, the third largest economy in the world. 

Australia understands that Japan depends on reliable, secure and affordable energy imports. 

This will continue into the future.

We will not let Japan down. 

We will help keep the lights on. 

I made this commitment earlier this year in Tokyo. 

Our Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, did the same when he met Japan’s new Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba earlier this month at the ASEAN summit. 

Critical minerals 

The Australian government is investing over $22 billion over 10 years under our Future Made in Australia plan. 

But a Future Made in Australia does not mean we are going it alone. 

Australia will need the help of friends like Japan more than ever as we build new industries. 

Under the Future Made in Australia plan, the Government not only wants to make significant new public investments, but also to draw in new private investment.

We all know that resources will be essential in the energy transition.

Critical minerals and rare earths are important for low carbon technology and are absolutely vital for the defence industry. 

Australia will ensure partners like Japan have the secure supplies of the critical minerals and rare earths they will need in the face of growing strategic challenges that we share. 

We took a giant step forward in this work earlier this month when development finance institutions and export credit agencies from Australia and major partners such as Japan signed up to a new Minerals Security Partnership Finance Network.

The United States, India, the Republic of Korea and the United Kingdom have also signed up, as well as European Union Members – a coalition of 14 countries. 

This new Minerals Security Partnership Finance Network builds on the work I have been doing since coming to office, and it will improve access to finance for critical minerals projects that will strengthen global supply chains.

Perhaps the best example of the work Japan and Australia are doing to secure critical mineral and rare earth supply chains is Australian mining company Lynas Rare Earths.

Japan has supported Lynas over the course of many years driven by the bans on exports from China that started in 2010. 

Because of Japan’s patient capital and long-term mindset, Lynas has now transformed from a small producer to the biggest producer of rare earths outside China.

This is an incredible achievement and is strategically significant to global rare earths supply chains. 

We are now turning our collective minds to the ‘next’ Lynas – great Australian projects that will help underwrite global supply chains.

This is what our Future Made in Australia agenda is all about. 

And we need Japan’s help to achieve our ambitions. 

Gas

As I said earlier, Gas will play an important role in the Australia-Japan relationship and in the transition to renewables and net zero well into the future. 

Gas provides grid stability, especially as more variable renewable generation is added to the system. 

Gas is also vitally important to support high-end manufacturing – a point well understood here in Nagoya.

We simply cannot have viable, diversified critical minerals supply chains without secure supplies of natural gas. 

In May, my government released the Future Gas Strategy to provide an evidence base for the future gas needs of Australia and our export partners.

The Future Gas Strategy is not ‘business as usual’ for gas. 

It recognises both the clear role for gas and the clear need to support a shift towards higher-value and non-substitutable gas uses to reduce emissions and maintain energy security and affordability. 

This strategy will help industries, governments and communities plan for the future. 

It will support long term decision making and smooth Australia’s and our region’s energy transition.

I appreciate the input from the government of Japan and Japanese industry leaders into the strategy, many of whom are here today.

It is important that companies have clarity and certainty when making investment decisions.

The Future Gas Strategy affirmed the ongoing role of gas in Australia’s economy. 

It also confirmed the need to continue to supply Australian gas to partners like Japan into the future. 

But I would say that industry also needs to make every effort to ensure Australian homes and Australian industry have ample supplies of gas at affordable prices. 

Shortages, or even forecasts of shortages, of Australian gas for Australian customers only play into the hands of those who would seek to close the industry down. 

But I am firmly of the view that there is no challenge we cannot meet if we work together, with our faces towards a brighter future.

Expo 2025 Osaka

The Australian Government is also preparing itself for a spectacular presence at Expo 2025 in Osaka.

The size of our pavilion and the scale of our participation reflects the importance of Japan to Australia. 

Australia’s pavilion and programming at Expo will highlight a modern, diverse and innovative Australia.

It will encompass renewable energy, critical minerals, space, food and wine, international education and research, health and sport.

I encourage companies here to consider if they would like to partner with the Australian Government at Osaka Expo 2025 and be sponsors of an exciting and monumental event for Japan.  

Conclusion

Australia and Japan have powerful reasons for working closely together. 

Our strengths complement each other.

And our resources relationship has laid a strong foundation for mutual respect and friendship.

I can assure everyone here that Australia is committed to being a reliable energy trade and investment partner to Japan.

We are also determined to be a positive contributor to global energy security and decarbonisation.

Our partnerships with Japan will provide stronger energy security while meeting our mutual emissions reduction targets.

Thank you again for the opportunity to speak – it has been a pleasure.

Please enjoy the remainder of the conference.

Thank you.