Thank you Holly, and thank you all involved in organising this conference. 

I would like to begin by acknowledging the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the traditional custodians of this land.

I pay my respect to their elders and extend that respect to First Nations people present. 

Hello all.

I am very pleased to speak at the International Mining and Resources Conference for the third consecutive year as Australia’s Resources Minister. 

IMARC brings together an enormous number of companies, exhibitors and senior representatives of countries from around the world here to beautiful Sydney to discuss mining and resources. 

Thank you for joining us this week, particularly those who have travelled internationally to be here. 

Having attended the Prospectors and Developers Association of Canada conference in Toronto earlier this year, I truly do understand the effort our international visitors go to when they fly across the globe.

We really appreciate you coming all that way. 

In particular, I’d like to welcome: 

• Timor-Leste Minister for Petroleum and Mineral Resources, His Excellency Francisco da Costa Monteiro; 
• the Vice Minister of Mining of Chile, Ms Chahuan Kim

… and the many Ministers and Ambassadors of their countries here today, as well as all elected officials, government representatives and members of the diplomatic corps. 

I also acknowledge the representatives from Australian industry and state and territory governments. 

In particular, I would like to acknowledge Ms Courtney Houssos, the New South Wales Minister for Finance and Minister for Natural Resources.

Minister Houssos is rightly proud that her hometown is once again hosting this conference, which is Australia’s largest mining event, bringing together so many people from across our nation and the world.  

Some of you may know that I am from the other side of this vast country: Western Australia. 

And I thank the Western Australian Government’s Minister for Mines and Petroleum, David Michael, for being here.

Western Australians tend to think of their state as being the home of mining and resources in this country. 

But it hasn’t always been the case. 

Just over 1,000 kilometres by road from here, in the far west of this state, is the national heritage city of Broken Hill, which has become famous because its where great Aussie films like Mad Max 2 and Priscilla Queen of the Desert were filmed. 

It has played a central role in the history of Australian mining and in the broader economic development of Australia. 

The fabulous wealth generated from Broken Hill’s silver, lead and zinc deposits was the wellspring of our nation’s industrial development from 1914 to 1939.

It was our mineral resources that helped instigate the great expansion of the steel industry, underpinning the development of Newcastle and Wollongong.

And with its vast reserves of coal, gold and copper, NSW still makes a vitally important contribution to Australia’s resources sector. 

And with the world’s growing appetite for our critical minerals and rare earths, NSW is poised to help write the next chapter of the story of mining in Australia. 

But the resources industry needs help to grow and to meet new challenges. 

And that’s what the Albanese Government is doing. 

Attitudes to Mining 

In his book, The Rush That Never Ended, historian Geoffrey Blainey discusses how miners were once regarded as heroes in Australia. 

“For more than a century the miner had been seen as a benefactor of Australia,” he writes. 

“He brought it wealth, he helped to give it a high standard of living, he provided jobs, especially so during the depressions, he was the spur to the fastest period of migration the country had seen, and he opened up regions which otherwise would be ‘backward’.” 

Indeed, miners built our Federation; it was miners flocking to the gold rush of Kalgoorlie and Coolgardie which tipped WA voter sentiment in favour of joining the rest of the continent in 1901. 

My great great grandfather, Eli Pizer, was among them. It was the prospect of prosperity, of striking it rich, that saw a family make an arduous journey, walking from Albany to Kalgoorlie. 

Something unimaginable in this day. 

Over time, attitudes to mining have changed. 

Pioneers of mining discoveries in Australia were honoured names in the 1960s but by the 1980s, their honour was increasingly subject to dispute.

Professor Blainey points to growing community concerns about protecting the environment and challenges in community support, including from First Nations peoples, for the shift in opinion.

Governments have quite rightly responded to those concerns, both here in Australia and around the world.

And importantly, so too have mining companies.

Today, all mining companies and projects understand more than ever the need to properly manage environmental and social outcomes.

And they know they must have community support for a project from the beginning - so-called social licence.

I am happy to report that the commitment of the mining sector to work with communities is slowly changing views. 

The CSIRO – which is Australia’s peak public scientific research organisation – is launching a report this week on the Australian public’s attitude to mining. 

The study of almost 7000 participants has revealed a significant shift in public attitudes to the mining industry over the past decade. 

Trust in the industry has improved, and acceptance of mining is also found to have increased. 

The report suggests this increase in trust reflects growing public confidence in the industry to act responsibly. 

The report also makes welcome findings on the role of the industry in addressing climate change, with 64 per cent of respondents agreeing that mining was needed to reach a net zero future.

But the report also makes clear there is more work for the industry to do to build trust and confidence with the community. 

Australia’s resources industry must continue to work to tell its story not just about its role in the energy transition – but also about the economic benefits mining brings to this country. 

About the lengths companies go to protect the environment, and to restoring it.

About the employment opportunities resource companies provide for First Nations peoples.

About the excellent pay and conditions companies provide for workers.  

And that our worksites are among the safest in the world.

Truth can easily go missing when our attention spans are sapped by social media. 

And the truth is we will need more mining, not less, for the energy transition.

Global demand for critical minerals and strategic materials is expected to grow exponentially. 

Australia is fortunate to have most of these critical minerals and rare earths right here. 

I’ve said many times, the road to net zero runs through Australian mines.

But because we mine and process our resources to such high ESG standards, Australian product can struggle to compete in international markets with operators that mine or process materials with little care for safety or environmental standards. 

Adding further complexity, critical minerals and rare earths are often sold into markets that are opaque or that are subject to manipulation. 

Given the importance of critical minerals and rare earths not only to the energy transition, but also to our security and defence industries, it is no exaggeration to say that securing supply chains for these resources is one of the important challenges facing Australia and partner nations. 

It also represents an existential risk to the global project of the net zero transition.

Since the last IMARC, I’ve had the privilege to travel to Japan, the Republic of Korea, Canada and the United States to help build international cooperation. 

As I have said repeatedly, it is only through strong international engagement and by working together that we can create a strong global critical minerals and rare earths industry.

One that delivers on our respective supply chain needs and delivers long-term sustainability and maintains community support for mining. 

Significantly, last month, development finance institutions and export credit agencies from Australia and other major trading nations, including the United States, India, the Republic of Korea the United Kingdom and Japan, signed up to a new Minerals Security Partnership Finance Network.

This Network builds on the work I have been doing since coming to office. 

It will improve access to finance for critical minerals projects that are needed to help strengthen and diversify global supply chains.

Because likeminded nations must work together to ensure that we can secure the supplies of critical minerals and rare earths needed for our future economic security. 

This agreement compliments the policies the Albanese Government has announced as part of its Future Made in Australia plan to position our resources sector for the coming decades. 

A centrepiece of the Albanese Government’s most recent Budget was a Critical Minerals Production Tax Incentive that will offer a ten per cent tax credit for all 31 critical minerals currently on the critical minerals list. 

Those credits will provide $17.6 billion in support for our critical minerals and rare earths producers over the life of the scheme.

States like NSW are also doing their part. 

Earlier this month, Minister Houssos launched the New South Wales Government’s Critical Minerals Strategy.

Minister Houssos has announced a $250 million royalty deferral scheme and a review of planning processes and land access to help support new projects coming to market. 

This is sound, practical policy from the NSW government to progress important mining projects and I thoroughly welcome this initiative.

There are currently 12 critical minerals mining and processing projects in NSW that are ready for investment. 

If they go ahead, they will generate about 4,600 jobs during construction and 2,700 ongoing jobs.

Earlier this month I was in Dubbo where I announced another $5 million in Federal Government support for the Australian Strategic Materials rare earths project. 

In addition to a letter of support worth $200m from Export Finance Australia, ASM has already received a non-binding Letter of Interest from the Export-Import Bank of the United States for up to US$600 million to support the construction of the project, which shows the global significance of this project. 

The Albanese Government wants more projects like this. 

Projects of global significance. 

Conclusion

Mining has been essential to the development of our modern and prosperous nation and continues to deliver opportunities and growth, year after year. 

Royalties from mining projects across our country help to build roads and hospitals, just as Australian iron ore and metallurgical coal have produced the steel that built the great cities of Asia.

Australians understand this. 

They understand the benefits that come from the resources sector. 

Growing our resources sector is key to achieving the net zero transition and securing a Future Made in Australia.

I trust you all have a productive and profitable time at IMARC.  

Thank you.