Category: All News

Mrs Rinehart said governments “seem to forget” that “modern resources and agricultural industries underpin human flourishing”, while reigniting her push for the Federal Government to mark two days in November as national days for the two sectors. “For all the platitudes we hear about supporting the agricultural and resources sectors, their actions show the opposite,” she said of governments. “Platitudes and press releases don’t lift a single tonne of any mineral out of the ground.” Mrs Rinehart said the growing burden of red tape – including looming “huge increases” to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act — and increasing regulation around net zero emissions, were evidence that government actions defied their supposed support for the sector.

Australia has long been a nation of primary producers, of farmers and miners who go out into regional and outback areas and contend with whatever nature may throw at them to provide the food, fibre and raw materials that we need to survive and thrive. We have cultivated agriculture that feeds and clothes Australians and tens of millions of people around the world. And we have taken risks and developed the minerals that have enabled higher living standards across Australia and the world. Thanks to our primary industries and the many businesses they support, we live in one of the wealthiest countries that has ever existed, and Australians today have among the highest standards of living ever experienced by human beings.

16 November 2023.

In the absence of any further improvements in the regulatory framework of our resources sector, and in particular with regard to critical minerals, Australia will cede its competitive advantage to other nations with less stringent approval processes and environmental standards. Our leaders seem to have forgotten the crucial role that the mining and resources sector has played and will continue in play in the development of our great nation.

Deteriorating energy infrastructure, lacklustre entrepreneurship and poor competition rules are holding back the Australian economy, with a new report suggesting a drop in competitiveness is putting at risk future prosperity. In a ranking of the most resilient economies, Australia fell to 20th place from first place in 2004, analysis by Institute of Public Affairs senior fellow Kevin You found.

Association of Mining and Exploration Companies chief executive Warren Pearce told The West Australian response times for Section 10 applications had been increasing over recent years. “Industry understands there are a variety of aspects that governments need to consider,” Mr Pearce said. “However, a time deadline would assist companies in their planning and investment strategies, and hold (government) departments more accountable.
“Given the renewed importance of the energy transition globally, the role of critical minerals has never been more apparent.

The beautiful but economically stagnant south of Italy has started to show early signs of a long-overdue renaissance. Since opening their doors a year ago, the country’s eight special economic zones (SEZs) — stretching from ​​Abruzzo in the centre, to Calabria in the south, and across to Sicily and Sardinia — have each built project pipelines of up to €1bn and instigated ambitious plans to modernise local infrastructure. On the face of it, this is attributed to their tax and regulatory benefits, plus a generous helping of EU recovery funds. But their early success is in large part down to the local SEZ commissioners and their teams, which have been passionately promoting their regions, building relationships and stoking some friendly competition among themselves.

Having been caught flat-footed on the reintroduction of industry-wide wage bargaining at the Albanese government’s Jobs and Skills Summit, big business finally is showing it will not repeat the mistake as the government considers further measures to make workplaces less flexible, less productive and ultimately union-controlled. The public entry of mining company BHP is a significant turn of events that demonstrates the stakes at play. Like Master Builders Australia and the Minerals Council of Australia, BHP is belling the cat that changes being proposed as a way to protect vulnerable workers in the gig economy have potential impacts that will be much more widespread.

26 October 2023.