Appropriation Bill (No. 1) 2026-2027

Ms SWANSON (Paterson) (11:03): The Albanese Labor government continues to support and invest in Australia's resources sector and our growing critical minerals industry. Australia's resources sector remains one of the greatest strengths of our national economy, and I want to thank and commend our terrific Minister for Resources, Madeleine King, who is leading the charge.

In 2024-25, resource and energy exports were worth $385 billion, with a B, for our nation. This sector contributed more than $50 billion in company tax and almost $22 billion in royalties to governments right across the country, and 310,000 Australians are directly employed in mining. Hundreds of thousands more rely on the jobs and economic activity that the sector supports.

This includes the hardworking people of my seat of Paterson in the magnificent Hunter region, which is the oldest mining region in the country. Out of that comes the fact that we are leading the world in resources and extractive industries. We are the largest exporter of iron ore, metallurgical coal, lithium and mineral sands and amongst the world's leading exporters of gold, rare earths, uranium and cobalt.

These achievements didn't happen by accident. They're the result of decades—actually, centuries—of investment, innovation, skills, hard work and wherewithal of Australians who are working in our resources sector. That's precisely why Australia is so well placed to lead the world in the next great extractive industry: critical minerals.

Sometimes, the conversation around critical minerals is framed as though it's entirely separate from the traditional resources sector, but the reality is very different. There's a direct interface between our existing extractive industries and these emerging industries. The skills, the expertise, the engineering capability, the environmental management practices and the operational knowledge that have been built through generations of mining in Australia provide us with a significant bedrock and advantage on which to build this new set of industries.

We know how to find resources. We know how to extract them safely and efficiently. We know how to manage large-scale projects.

We know how to build regional economies and industries and communities. The challenge before us now, in my opinion, is to take those strengths and apply them to the new critical minerals opportunities. Importantly, we must learn from the past.

Australia has often excelled at extracting resources but not always in capturing the full value of them. The critical minerals opportunities allow us to do both. It is not simply about digging materials out of the ground, as some members on the other side have accused us of.

It is about local processing, refining and manufacturing. It's about value-adding as much as we can here in Australia, creating the high-value jobs as well as the high-value products. It's more about economic benefit and about that remaining in Australia.

That's why this government has committed more than $28 billion since 2022 to grow Australia's critical minerals industry. We've introduced $17½ billion in production tax credits for critical minerals. We've expanded the Critical Minerals Facility to $5 billion.

We've established a $1.2 billion Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve, and we've invested in research and development, infrastructure, international partnerships and common user facilities that'll help unlock these future projects. These are all incredibly important for our country. We've also recognised that Australia's critical minerals future must be built in partnership with regional Australia, like my regional Australia in the Hunter.

I am Chair of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Primary Industries, and we're currently conducting an inquiry at the behest of the minister looking at critical minerals and rare earths and the social licence and economic benefit of these industries, and we are getting some fantastic evidence. The evidence received in public hearings so far has highlighted the opportunities and the challenges faced by regional communities in hosting critical minerals projects, and I'm really looking forward to delivering a good report with some great recommendations.

But I want to thank those regional communities who are working hard in our resources sector.