QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Ms MADELEINE KING (Brand—Minister for Resources and Minister for Northern Australia) (15:08): I want to thank the member for Lingiari for her question. It was a delight to join her, about 130 kilometres outside of Alice Springs, just last week to attend the groundbreaking ceremony for the Arafura Nolans Rare Earths Project. Once operational, the Nolans project will become Australia's first integrated ore-to-oxide rare earths facility; not only mining rare earths but also processing them here as well.

It will supply up to about five per cent of the world's demand for rare earths.This is to produce things that go into high-performance magnets that go into EVs and fighter jets and submarines—all the things we need for our national security. And this will produce a remarkable change in global supply chains. Importantly, this Arafura Nolans project is a game changer for the Northern Territory and for Central Australia—600 jobs during constructions, 350 ongoing operational jobs and billions of dollars of investment in industry and local communities.

The Arafura project is a demonstration of how the Albanese government's plan is working to support new critical minerals projects here at home for a future made in Australia. And can I be very clear: this project would not be happening without the leadership of this government and, in particular, this prime minister. Our cornerstone investment through loans of $1.2 billion from the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility, the Critical Minerals Facility of Export Finance Australia, and the National Reconstruction Fund—as well as having the first transaction of our world-leading Critical Minerals Strategic Reserve—took the Arafura Nolans rare earth project to final investment decisions a few weeks ago.

I want to thank the team at Arafura, including the CEO, Darryl Cuzzubbo, and the head of the NT, Stewart Forrest, and I commend the Arafura team on this important milestone. In particular, I want to say a very special thank you to the traditional owners, the Anmatyerr people and the Alyuen people, for their active participation in this really important project, and I was delighted, along with the member for Lingiari, to speak with them extensively last week.

This project is not only significant for the economic empowerment of their families and generations of traditional owners in Central Australia; it is of enormous importance to Alice Springs, to the Northern Territory and, indeed, to the whole country. The deep engagement of traditional owners in this really important resources project truly is a gift that they give to the nation but also to the world and to the global supply chain of the products that will be made from the dirt that they have been walking over for tens of thousands of years.

This is a globally significant rare earths project. I thank the traditional owners for all of their deep engagement in it. This is Australia and Australians stepping up to take responsibility to lead on critical minerals and rare earths globally.