QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Senator FARRELL (South Australia—Minister for Trade and Tourism, Special Minister of State and Deputy Leader of the Government in the Senate) (14:48): I thank Senator Polley for her incisive question there about critical minerals and rare earths, because they are vital to Australia's economic future and to our national security. They are minerals the world needs for clean energy, advanced manufacturing, aerospace, defence and technologies Australians use every single day.

That's why the Albanese Labor government has a very clear plan. We're building new processing capacity here at home, where we are creating good, high-paying Australian jobs right around the country, and we're working closely with trusted international partners to diversify the global supply of these important minerals. Under our framework, as agreed between Australia and the United States just recently, the United States will invest more than half a billion dollars to support the Sunrise Energy Metals scandium project near Dubbo, not that far from here in New South Wales.

It's one of the world's largest and highest-grade scandium projects, and it has important applications in aerospace and clean energy. This project will create about 100 construction jobs and about 60 ongoing jobs. Labor is delivering real outcomes.

That means more investment, it means more capabilities, and it means more secure supply chains for Australia. The PRESIDENT: Senator Polley, first supplementary?