The Australian Government has tapped industry experts from across the metals, financing, research, decarbonisation, and industrial spaces to help steer the country’s metals industry towards a greener future.
The new Green Metals Advisory Panel includes Australian Steel Institute CEO Mark Cain, KPMG national managing partner Paul Howes, Australian Aluminium Council CEO Marghanita Johnson, and Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia CEO Rebecca Tomkinson (pictured).
Also on the panel is Heavy Industry Low-Carbon Transition Cooperative Research Centre CEO Jenny Selway, Australian Workers Union national secretary Paul Farrow, and Australian Manufacturing Workers Union national secretary Steve Murphy.
Advice from the panel is expected to complement views being gathered from around the country as part of the green metals consultation, which attracted over 90 submissions from producers, peak bodies, researchers and others.
The Advisory Panel will provide independent advice to support the preparation of policy options on green metals and industry decarbonisation.
The panel will also help inform the government’s Net Zero Industrial Plan to drive down emissions and support investment across the industrial sector.
The move is part of the Australian Government’s $22.7 billion ‘Future Made in Australia’ agenda.
The plan is designed to maximise the economic and industrial benefits of the move to net zero and securing Australia’s place in a changing global economic and strategic landscape.
The federal government says significant quantities of ‘green’ iron, steel, alumina, and aluminium will be required to support the energy transition, globally and domestically.
Both steel and aluminium are used in wind turbines, electric vehicles and grid infrastructure, but are highly carbon intensive to produce.
But the government believes the potential is there for the metals industry to deliver up to $122 billion a year by 2024 while reducing emissions by as much as 250 megatonnes.
Minister for Industry and Science Ed Husic says shifting to greener metals production provides an opportunity for a sustainable future.
“This Advisory Panel boasts impressive expertise and longstanding experience, helping guide Australia to capture the new jobs and export opportunities that come with greener metals manufacturing,” he says.
“Making more things here to create more jobs and grow businesses is what a Future Made in Australia is all about, that’s why we’re making the investments that back Australia’s manufacturers to turn that vision into a reality.”
Write to Angela East at Mining.com.au
Images: The Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia
