With Prime Minister Anthony Albanese set to officially kick off Labor’s federal election campaign in Australia’s largest mining state on April 13, the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia (CMEWA) has outlined its priorities for the resources sector.
Albanese was in Perth on Monday (31 March) for a brief visit ahead of the formal campaign, which is the first time consecutive campaigns have started off in WA following Albanese’s first run at the top job in 2022.
The Prime Minister reportedly said during his visit that previous Liberal-led governments took WA for granted, but the state is a “central focus”, not simply an “add-on” for the current Labor government.
“We’ve got a fantastic Federal Labor team in WA, we want to hold all our seats and we’re looking at more,” Albanese said.
This follows the recent election in WA that saw Labor again claim government and Roger Cook retain his position as Premier.
CMEWA has commended both major parties for promising not to introduce additional taxes or royalties targeting the resources sector, but says there is a lot more to be done to reverse years of falling productivity and attract the considerable investment required to sustain and grow the WA resources sector.
In late January, CMEWA released its Federal Pre-Budget Submission which contains more than 90 recommendations.
The organisation put forward recommendations around unwinding recent industrial relations reforms, streamlining approvals, expanding WA’s power network, introducing a green iron production tax credit and slashing the corporate tax rate.
WA’s resources sector accounts for roughly half of the state’s economic activity and capital expenditure, and almost 90% of exports.
A 2024 report commissioned by CMEWA shows a record $132 billion in direct spending by WA’s resources sector in Australia, up 32% from the previous year.
The state’s direct economic contribution also last financial year surpassed $77 billion – equating to almost $27,000 per Western Australian – a more than 30% increase compared to the 2023 financial year.
WA resources alone contributed 9% of Australia’s GDP including both direct economic contribution of $131 billion and the indirect economic contribution of $101 billion.
CMEWA Chief Executive Rebecca Tomkinson says WA is regarded as one of the world’s premier mining provinces but that hard-earned reputation is now under threat on multiple fronts.
“First, duplicative and cumbersome assessment processes are acting as a handbrake on WA’s resources sector and the national energy transition,” she tells Mining.com.au.
“Where competing countries are fast-tracking the deployment of low-emission energy and working to rapidly unlock mineral deposits, moves to remove barriers to development in Australia has been too slow.
“WA has dozens of commodities – from iron ore and natural gas to lithium and rare earths – that are in high demand globally.
“But we are not the only jurisdiction with mineral endowments, and many of our competitors are working harder than we are to capitalise on the opportunities offered by the global energy transition.”
Faster approvals to boost investment
CMEWA is calling for a streamlining of end-to-end approval processes to unlock investment in transformational projects, regardless of industry.
This is also a point of concern for the Association of Mining and Exploration Companies, with CEO Warren Pearce saying in an interview with Mining.com.au recently that the industry body wants to see the removal of duplication of approval processes.
Tomkinson says faster approvals will help accelerate the energy transition, which is key to ensuring Australian businesses have access to the most basic building block of advanced economies: low-emission, reliable and affordable electricity.
Soaring electricity prices are also a sticking point, with Tomkinson pointing to the fact that wholesale power prices in WA have doubled in the space of three years.
“Skyrocketing energy costs are a serious threat to our existing industrial and manufacturing base – and make attracting future-facing industries next to impossible,” she says.
“Building out WA’s high-voltage transmission network is the first step to attracting investment in the substantial additional wind, solar and gas peaking generation that is required to decarbonise the State’s electricity grids.
“While transmission lines fall largely to the state government, the Commonwealth can play a role through funding assistance and ensuring regulatory settings support development.”
Meanwhile, recent industrial relations reforms have seen a rise in union activity on mine sites, which CMEWA says is hampering investment.
“CME is also calling for the repeal of recent industrial relations changes that are damaging the harmonious workplace rules that have allowed both resources companies and their workers to flourish for more than three decades now,” Tomkinson tells this news service.
“That formula – which requires rises in wages to be linked to productivity gains – has made resources workers among the highest paid in the nation, with earnings 57% above the Australian average.
“IR reforms, specifically the ‘single interest’ stream of multi-employer bargaining and the ability for unions to initiate bargaining without demonstrating majority employee support, have led to sharp increases in union activity on mine sites that are impacting investment confidence.”
According to the Western Australian Government, the mining industry set a record for jobs in the 2024 financial year, with full time positions reaching nearly 135,000 – marking the seventh year in a row of job growth.
The three biggest contributors to mining jobs were iron ore, gold and lithium.
Environmental reform is also high on CMEWA’s agenda, with the organisation noting that a re-elected Labor government has committed to the reform of environmental laws.
“As the Prime Minister reaffirmed in Perth this week, consultation is essential and must be undertaken before the development of any new model,” Tomkinson says.
“Environmental reform is too important to be used as a political pawn, and industry and community stakeholders must be genuinely consulted on changes to Australia’s environmental laws to ensure outcomes that deliver for both the environment and for business.
“While we continue to question the need for an additional national entity, given WA’s robust processes and our independent state-based EPA, we welcome the Prime Minister’s commitment that any specific model will be subject to robust consultation.”
Tomkinson says CME looks forward to engaging with both major parties throughout the upcoming election campaign to advocate for sensible policies that address investment fundamentals while also positioning Australia to capture future-facing industries.
Write to Angela East at Mining.com.au
Images: iStock
