There have been some very important developments in our northern Australia development plan. It is the first time in our history that a government has had a white paper and a plan to develop northern Australia. It was a great pleasure this week to announce a $95 million investment from the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility towards Sheffield Resources’ Thunderbird mineral sands project in the Kimberley region.
Senator BROCKMAN (Western Australia) (14:35):
My question is to the Minister for Resources and Northern Australia, Senator Canavan. Could the minister please advise the Senate on any recent developments that will further economic growth and job creation in northern Australia.
Senator CANAVAN (Queensland—Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) (14:35):
I thank Senator Brockman for that question. I know he is a passionate supporter of the development of northern Australia, and particularly of northern Western Australia, of course. There have been some very important developments in our northern Australia development plan. It is the first time in our history that a government has had a white paper and a plan to develop northern Australia. It was a great pleasure this week to announce a $95 million investment from the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility towards Sheffield Resources’ Thunderbird mineral sands project in the Kimberley region. This project is an incredibly important project, principally to create 400 jobs in the Kimberley region during construction and 280 jobs over the life of the mine.
Our northern Australia agenda is all about creating jobs and opportunity for people who live in northern Australia, and this project will do that in spades. This project is going to be staffed completely by locals in the Kimberley region. The proportion of Indigenous people in this part of our country is 44 per cent. I give credit to Sheffield, which has set a target of 40 per cent of its employees to be Indigenous Australians. Today, 60 per cent of Sheffield’s employees are Indigenous. It is already beating its target, which is a fantastic outcome.
This project is important also because it produces products that are essential for modern life. I can see a number of senators on their phones and iPads. I’m sure they’re listening intently to my answer to this question, but they’re also looking at modern technologies that need mineral sands, that need zircon and titanium for their production. We need these mines and a strong mining sector to be able to use our phones and our iPads. Without mining we wouldn’t enjoy any of these modern products. We have so many of these products here in Australia.
The PRESIDENT:
Senator Brockman, a supplementary question.
Senator BROCKMAN (Western Australia) (14:37):
It would be nice if those opposite would listen to how important jobs are to northern Australia. Minister, how can Australia’s critical metals industry compete on the world stage?
Senator CANAVAN (Queensland—Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) (14:37):
We do have enormous opportunities in what are new, modern minerals to service a modern economy, not just for mobile phones but for solar panels. Solar panels require 16 different minerals for their construction, and 10 of those 16 minerals are produced here in Australia, so we have enormous opportunities. The mining industry has never been more important to the world than it is today.
We are making sure we are positioned to capture those opportunities in Australia. The federal government has signed an agreement with the US government to work together on critical minerals. The US has identified 35 critical minerals for its economy, and we produce 15 of those here in Australia. We’ve got one of the richest and most diverse supplies of minerals of any country in the world. This opens up enormous opportunities for Australia in lithium, mineral sands and rare earths. Through our northern Australia investments we’re helping to create the jobs opportunities that will flow from that demand.
The PRESIDENT:
Senator Brockman, a final supplementary question.
Senator BROCKMAN (Western Australia) (14:38):
How else has the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility delivered for northern Australia?
Senator CANAVAN (Queensland—Minister for Resources and Northern Australia) (14:39):
As I said, this was a great week to announce this investment to Sheffield Resources, but a month or so ago the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility announced a loan of just under $20 million to Pilbara Minerals, which is developing a lithium project at the Pilgangoora mine in the Pilbara region. This is a project that will also create jobs and opportunities in northern Western Australia. Lithium of course is in massive demand around the world, and we are the world’s largest producer of lithium. We have tripled our lithium production in eight years, and we have great potential to further that development, as well. This particular investment will help do that in Western Australia. There are also opportunities to go into the supply chain of lithium, to process the lithium spodumene into hydroxide, and create even more value and jobs opportunities for our country.
