Address to Minerals Week 2026
I’d like to begin by acknowledging the Ngunnawal people, the traditional custodians of the lands on which we meet today. I pay my respects to their elders—past and present, as well as any First Nations people joining us here today. I’d also like to thank Tania and her team at the MCA for the invitation to speak this afternoon and your ongoing advocacy across many issues and portfolios.
INTRODUCTION My association with the mining industry goes back many, many years through my work in the Queensland Government, to my role in Opposition as Shadow Northern Australia Minister and now through multiple roles in government including my current position of Environment and Water Minister. I’ve always supported the mining industry and the economic contribution it makes, and equally, I’ve always believed the mining industry needs to live up to the community’s expectations that it will also deliver positive social and environmental outcomes.
When the PM appointed me to this new portfolio after the election, he was very clear that my number one task was to reform Australia’s outdated environmental laws. Laws that weren’t protecting the environment and weren’t working for business. It became very clear to me that, to reform these laws, it would need my personal engagement – on a deep and regular basis - with stakeholders, including the resources sector.
That’s why a week after being sworn in, I was in Western Australia, engaging with Roger Cook and his team, along with a range of mining, environmental and other interests, to understand what had prevented reform in the past and what was needed for the future. Over the course of the six months between taking on the portfolio and delivering the EPBC reforms, I met with resources companies and representative groups on more than 80 occasions.
This included almost weekly meetings with the MCA and I thank Tania and her team for their constructive engagement. What was ultimately delivered and passed by the parliament was a historic package of reforms that found the balance between wins for the environment and wins for the business sector. EPBC REFORM Put simply, the changes will protect our nation’s precious environment, while powering national productivity.
The reforms will deliver a faster, simpler and more reliable experience for proponents seeking approvals under the EPBC Act, especially for projects of national importance, such as critical minerals, renewable energy and housing. Some aspects of the reforms have already commenced, and as the remainder come online this year, the changes will have significant positive impacts for business.
Things like: Entering better and more enduring bilateral agreements with states and territories on assessments, and in the future, approvals, reducing duplication and delivering time savings. Streamlining assessment pathways to take time out of the system. A new restoration fund to make acquitting offsets requirements simpler and faster, while delivering restoration benefits.
Bioregional planning – removing the need for a project-specific EPBC approval, by doing the work of mapping biodiversity values upfront and then defining “go zones” and “no go zones” for future development. A clearer definition of unacceptable impacts. The result will be less process, more clarity, and more opportunities for development, including: Providing greater upfront certainty through new National Environmental Standards, clearly defined unacceptable impacts and a clear net gain test.
More options for proponents to meet their offset obligations - either delivering offsets themselves or paying for the government to do so via restoration contributions. The ability to make rulings that clarify how laws, regulations or subordinate instruments apply. Faster assessments via new streamlined approval pathways, including accreditation and landscape-scale approaches, such as improved strategic assessments and bioregional planning.
PROGRESS SO FAR Implementation of our landmark reforms to Australia’s national environment laws is already well underway. Some parts of the new laws took effect immediately while further amendments came into effect last month. Australia’s first National Environmental Protection Agency will be established on 1 July and the transition to this new agency is full steam ahead.
All reforms will commence no later than the first of December. Where possible, we will bring forward elements of the reforms to provide greater clarity for proponents, and time to prepare before the new arrangements start. As I said earlier, last year we held significant consultation with the business, resources and minerals sectors, including the MCA, and with individual mining companies that sought further detail on the reforms.
We will continue to seek your perspectives on the new phase of implementing the reforms, to make sure they work on the ground and deliver benefits for industry. Right now, for example, we are working with mining, environmental and other stakeholders to finalise the first set of National Environmental Standards. And we’ll continue consulting on different aspects of the reforms throughout this year.
Another thing we are progressing – a direct outcome from the Treasurer’s productivity roundtable and something the MCA has also raised - is how AI can make environmental approvals faster, clearer and easier. My department is preparing a pilot right now, starting with how these tools can enhance the user experience for people navigating complex laws and documentation.
Work to date has focused on developing and testing a working proof of concept. The department will work closely with industry to make sure that the tools are practical, intuitive and designed around how people actually use them, with testing to ensure the outputs are robust and reliable. Our government certainly recognises the massive productivity gains that AI can deliver, in this and other places, but it will always be used responsibly, with human oversight and/or intervention.
A STABLE FUTURE In closing, it’s appropriate to reflect on the turbulent times facing the world and what that means for how we govern. With escalating world conflict, energy price shocks and disrupted trade and supply chains growing by the day, it’s hard to think of a time when having a stable, mature, considered government was more important. That is the approach our government is taking and it’s producing results, each and every day.
Just yesterday the Prime Minister and Minister Don Farrell announced that Australia had reached a historic FTA with the European Union. A deal that delivers for Australian farmers, Australian miners, Australian manufacturers, winemakers, service suppliers, and many, many more. And it was only possible because of the long-term stability provided by the Albanese Government.
One Prime Minister, one Trade Minister, 3 rounds of negotiations, producing big wins for Australian exporters and consumers. Contrast that to the 10 years of Coalition government which included 15 negotiating rounds, three different Prime Ministers, different Trade Ministers. Which ultimately achieved zero results.
The $10 billion annual gain to Australia’s economy from this deal shows the national dividend from having a stable, mature, considered government, with a unity of purpose. The direct opposite of what we see on the other side of politics. The collapse we have seen in the vote for the Liberal and National Parties and the corresponding rise in One Nation isn’t just a story about opinion polls.
It’s a complete reshaping of the choice available to Australian voters, when they’re deciding who should govern our country. On the one hand, a stable, mature, unified Labor Government, navigating a considered course through choppy waters. On the other, a ragtag coalition between the Liberals, Nationals and One Nation, focused on who can look the angriest, while offering no actual solutions.
Because the new reality of politics in this country is that neither the Liberals nor One Nation can form government without the other’s support. One Nation have now so successfully cannibalised the Liberal Party vote that the Liberals can’t win without them. But One Nation can’t win an election in their own right either – they would need support from the Liberals.
The truth is, that in this new era we are living through, the Liberals and One Nation can only form government together. So a vote for the Liberals is a vote for the chaos and division of One Nation and a vote for One Nation is a vote for more Liberal cuts. That combination will not produce the stable, mature, considered government Australia needs.
But it’s those characteristics which shape the Albanese Labor Government and it’s how we’ll continue to provide the stability needed to boost productivity, deliver real outcomes for industry and protect Australia’s national interests. Thanks very much for your time this afternoon. We acknowledge the Traditional Owners of country throughout Australia and recognise their continuing connection to land, waters and culture.
We pay our respects to their Elders past, present and emerging.