Yesterday’s Australian Federal Budget allocated more than AU$100 million to critical minerals, leaving New Zealand in its dust, says Straterra CEO Josie Vidal.

"The budget includes AU$50.5 million over four years to establish the Australian Critical Minerals Research and Development Hub, and AU$50 million over three years to fund grants to support early and mid-stage critical minerals projects," Vidal says.

"In making the announcement the Albanese Government said it is accelerating the growth of the critical minerals sector and supporting clean-energy technologies as part of efforts to reach net zero. This money is in addition to $50 million previously committed to six key minerals projects across Australia.

"Meanwhile, the New Zealand Government has been promising to do something about critical minerals since 2019, but we have seen nothing. The contrast between the Australian Government’s support for minerals and the New Zealand Government’s lack of support is stark.

"Australia is acting on research from the energy industry, including the International Energy Agency, and preparing for the massive demands on critical minerals to fuel a low emissions future. They also understand the demands for mined minerals will increase as the infrastructure is built to both mitigate the effects of climate change and to create affordable, accessible, readily available energy sources.

"Australia has signed two international partnerships to develop and secure global supply chains for critical minerals - with the United States in July this year and with Japan this week. They are watching the situation in Ukraine and understand how important it is to shore up supply of the minerals that are going to keep the world running. They are not called critical minerals for nothing.

"At our conference last week Alan Broome, who has 40 years’ experience in the metals mining and energy industries, spoke about the role New Zealand can play in the rise of critical minerals. He stressed the importance of having a plan, as they have in ‘the UK, in Germany, in Japan, in Korea, in the United States - everywhere except here (NZ)’.

"The money the Australian Government is putting into research makes us envious when in New Zealand, crown research agencies are rejecting research and development grants for the minerals sector because they might cause ‘significant adverse public sentiment’. What is more likely to upset the public is when we have no reliable energy supply, or when sea level rise takes out their homes because we don’t have resilient infrastructure. Politicising research is a disturbing trend.

"I know it upsets New Zealanders to think Australia is better than us, but on the move to a low emissions future, they are. They have a plan.

"We are supposed to be innovators, world leaders, punching above our weight - but we are totally missing one of the biggest opportunities in the world, securing supply of critical minerals," Vidal says.

Straterra is the industry association representing New Zealand minerals and mining sector.

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