b'Canberra observed Canberra observedDavid Denham AM Associate Editor for Governmentdenham1@iinet.net.auThe Australian Governments Critical Minerals Strategy, 20232030.In July 2023 Madeleine King, the Federal Governments Minister for Resources, launched the Australian Governments Critical Minerals Strategy, 20232030.BackgroundCopper, iron and nickel are always going to be in demand, but with need to increase electrification globally, a whole range of new minerals will be requiredIf you look at: https://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/minerals/critical- Figure 1.Australian battery minerals 2021, and some critical minerals identified by Geoscience Australia minerals, you will see the twenty-six(https://www.ga.gov.au/scientific-topics/minerals/critical-minerals.critical minerals identified by Geoscience Australia in July 2023. The vision extract more value onshore from our resources, creating jobs and economic Figure 1 shows some of the mineralsBy 2030 Australia: opportunityneeded to build batteries and four of the key critical minerals and Figure 2has grown the geostrategic andYou can read the whole report at https://shows where the mineral deposits andeconomic benefits of its criticalwww.industry.gov.au/publications/operating mines are situatedtheres aminerals sector critical-minerals-strategy-2023-2030lot of them. is a globally significant producer of raw and processed critical mineralsBack to the strategy. supports diverse, resilient andActionssustainable supply chains. Some of the words in the Vision and The framework the Objectives may read like the According to the Minister: Objectives script from Utopia, but when you investigate further you find that Australias critical minerals sector iscreate diverse, resilient and sustainableGeoscience Australia has a $225 well placed to seize the opportunitiessupply chains through strong and securemillion budget for the Exploring for of the clean energy transition thanks tointernational partnerships the Future programme. This provides Australias: precompetitive geoscience data and build sovereign capability in criticalinformation to encourage investment rich geological reserves minerals processing in new resource projects.expertise at extracting minerals use our critical minerals to help track record as a reliable producer andbecome a renewable energyTo date, the programme has stimulated exporter of energy and resources. superpower new investment in Australia, with 25 PREVIEW AUGUST 2023'