austccr / mca_media_releases_scraper

The Future of Work: the Changing Skills Landscape for Miners

http://minerals.org.au/news/future-work-changing-skills-landscape-miners

2019-03-11 15:32:32 UTC

2019-02-13 04:26:30 UTC

2019-02-13 04:28:10 UTC

EY

Innovation, people and skills combined with technological advances will deliver a more globally competitive minerals sector that delivers fulfilling careers in high-pay, high-skilled jobs. The release of EY’s Skills Map for the Future of Work – commissioned by MCA – provides a comprehensive examination of future skills and training and technology trends in the Australian minerals industry.

<p>Innovation, people and skills combined with technological advances will deliver a more globally competitive minerals sector that delivers fulfilling careers in high-pay, high-skilled jobs.</p> <p>The release of EY’s <em>Skills Map for the Future of Work</em> – commissioned by MCA – provides a comprehensive examination of future skills and training and technology trends in the Australian minerals industry.</p> <p></p> <div class="media media-element-container media-default"> <div id="file-3077" class="file file-document file-application-pdf"> <h2 class="element-invisible"><a href="/files/190214-future-work-changing-skills-landscape-minerspdf">190214 The Future of Work the Changing Skills Landscape for Miners.pdf</a></h2> <div class="content"> <span class="file"><img class="file-icon" alt="PDF icon" title="application/pdf" src="/modules/file/icons/application-pdf.png"><a href="https://minerals.org.au/sites/default/files/190214%20The%20Future%20of%20Work%20the%20Changing%20Skills%20Landscape%20for%20Miners.pdf" type="application/pdf; length=2509782">190214 The Future of Work the Changing Skills Landscape for Miners.pdf</a></span> </div> </div> </div>

https://web.archive.org/web/20190311153232/http://minerals.org.au/news/future-work-changing-skills-landscape-miners

Minerals Council of Australia

http://minerals.org.au/sites/default/files/MCA_Newcrest%20Cadia_Monitoring%20%289%20of%209%29.jpg

The Future of Work: the economic implications of technology and digital mining

http://minerals.org.au/news/future-work-economic-implications-technology-and-digital-mining

2019-03-11 15:33:30 UTC

2019-02-13 04:33:06 UTC

2019-02-13 04:33:29 UTC

EY

Innovation, people and skills combined with technological advances will deliver a more globally competitive minerals sector that delivers fulfilling careers in high-pay, high-skilled jobs. The release of EY’s Skills Map for the Future of Work – commissioned by MCA – provides a comprehensive examination of future skills and training and technology trends in the Australian minerals industry.

<p>Innovation, people and skills combined with technological advances will deliver a more globally competitive minerals sector that delivers fulfilling careers in high-pay, high-skilled jobs.</p> <p>The release of EY’s <em>Skills Map for the Future of Work</em> – commissioned by MCA – provides a comprehensive examination of future skills and training and technology trends in the Australian minerals industry.</p> <p></p> <div class="media media-element-container media-default"> <div id="file-3078" class="file file-document file-application-pdf"> <h2 class="element-invisible"><a href="/files/190214-future-work-economic-implications-technology-and-digital-miningpdf">190214 The Future of Work The economic implications of technology and digital mining.pdf</a></h2> <div class="content"> <span class="file"><img class="file-icon" alt="PDF icon" title="application/pdf" src="/modules/file/icons/application-pdf.png"><a href="https://minerals.org.au/sites/default/files/190214%20The%20Future%20of%20Work%20The%20economic%20implications%20of%20technology%20and%20digital%20mining.pdf" type="application/pdf; length=7000612">190214 The Future of Work The economic implications of technology and digital mining.pdf</a></span> </div> </div> </div>

https://web.archive.org/web/20190311153330/http://minerals.org.au/news/future-work-economic-implications-technology-and-digital-mining

Minerals Council of Australia

http://minerals.org.au/sites/default/files/20180418_MCA_Clermont_261.jpg

The Next Frontier: Australian Mining Policy Priorities

http://minerals.org.au/news/next-frontier-australian-mining-policy-priorities

2019-03-11 15:33:33 UTC

2019-02-10 19:22:04 UTC

2019-02-10 19:22:14 UTC

Tania Constable, CEO

Modern workplace rules, revived tax reform and better environment laws will help the Australian minerals industry to continue to invest and grow with confidence, supporting regional communities and a more prosperous Australia. The Next Frontier: Australian Mining Policy Priorities outlines policy priorities for 2019 to remove barriers to growth and enable the minerals industry to support regional communities and maintain our comparative advantage in minerals and energy exports. Key priorities for this year and beyond include:

<p>Modern workplace rules, revived tax reform and better environment laws will help the Australian minerals industry to continue to invest and grow with confidence, supporting regional communities and a more prosperous Australia.</p> <p><em>The Next Frontier: Australian Mining Policy Priorities</em> outlines policy priorities for 2019 to remove barriers to growth and enable the minerals industry to support regional communities and maintain our comparative advantage in minerals and energy exports.</p> <p>Key priorities for this year and beyond include:</p> <ul> <li>Modernising Australia’s workplace rules to drive productivity gains and national prosperity</li> <li>Ensuring that environmental regulations across jurisdictions are consistent, efficient and effective</li> <li>Continuing to pursue tax reform to encourage additional investment in capital and technology.</li> </ul> <p></p> <div class="media media-element-container media-default"> <div id="file-3070" class="file file-document file-application-pdf"> <h2 class="element-invisible"><a href="/files/190208-next-frontier-mca-policy-prioritiespdf">190208 The Next Frontier MCA Policy Priorities.pdf</a></h2> <div class="content"> <span class="file"><img class="file-icon" alt="PDF icon" title="application/pdf" src="/modules/file/icons/application-pdf.png"><a href="https://minerals.org.au/sites/default/files/190208%20The%20Next%20Frontier%20MCA%20Policy%20Priorities.pdf" type="application/pdf; length=4793512">190208 The Next Frontier MCA Policy Priorities.pdf</a></span> </div> </div> </div>

https://web.archive.org/web/20190311153333/http://minerals.org.au/news/next-frontier-australian-mining-policy-priorities

Minerals Council of Australia

http://minerals.org.au/sites/default/files/MCA_Newcrest%20Cadia_Monitoring%20%289%20of%209%29.jpg

Minerals Council of Australia Pre-Budget Submission 2019-20

http://minerals.org.au/news/minerals-council-australia-pre-budget-submission-2019-20

2019-03-11 15:33:50 UTC

2019-01-31 13:00:00 UTC

2019-02-20 01:39:30 UTC

Minerals Council of Australia

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY   The next frontier: Securing new mining investment to capitalise on global opportunities   Two decades of unprecedented investment by the Australian resources sector (facilitated by previous bipartisan reforms) have produced a bigger resources sector delivering record export values. The resources sector earns more export income for Australia than all other industries combined, generating a record $221 billion in 2017-18, or 55 per cent of total exports.  

<div>EXECUTIVE SUMMARY</div> <div> </div> <div>The next frontier: Securing new mining investment to capitalise on global opportunities</div> <div> </div> <div>Two decades of unprecedented investment by the Australian resources sector (facilitated by previous bipartisan reforms) have produced a bigger resources sector delivering record export values. The resources sector earns more export income for Australia than all other industries combined, generating a record $221 billion in 2017-18, or 55 per cent of total exports.</div> <div> </div> <div>Resources companies employ approximately 240,000 people directly in highly paid, highly skilled jobs, predominantly in remote and regional Australia. Average earnings in the resources sector are around $140,000 a year, more than 64 per cent higher than the average for all industries.</div> <div> </div> <div>Minerals companies have paid $204 billion in the 12 years to 2016-17 in taxes and royalties, funding schools, hospitals and infrastructure across Australia. At the same time, the Productivity Commission has repeatedly confirmed that Australian mining receives ‘negligible’ industry  assistance.</div> <div> </div> <div>The world’s resources and energy needs are projected to continue growing in the 21st century. The economies of China, India and South-East Asia are using increasing amounts of steel, aluminium and copper to increase their industrial capacity, create more high-density housing in large cities, and build transportation networks, communications systems and electrical grids. In addition, demand for consumer products – such as cars, televisions, laptops, mobile ’phones and refrigerators – is rising rapidly as middle-class incomes increase.</div> <div> </div> <div>Australia is well-placed to supply these growing markets but this opportunity is not guaranteed. It demands consistent government policies that encourage investment and productivity growth and thereby make the Australian economy more competitive and prosperous.</div> <div> </div> <div>Australian mining is a global technology leader and there is an increasing role for automation, data analytics, mechatronics, robotics and artificial intelligence that will see Australian mining continue to be at the forefront of innovation. But other nations are also developing new resources with the latest technologies at competitive costs. Consequently, Australia’s tax and regulatory settings are becoming ever more important to maintaining our comparative advantage in minerals and energy exports.</div> <div> </div> <div>The Australian resources that have been identified and developed over the past century will need to be supplemented by discoveries of new deposits – deposits that will be more remote and harder to extract. The changing nature of skills is at the heart of this challenge. Workplaces will need to be redesigned, new skills developed and existing ones enhanced. This means that the minerals workforce will need to be even more adaptable and diverse in the future.</div> <div> </div> <div>This submission argues that future prosperity for all will not be secured without a new wave of reform to make the Australian economy more robust, productive and flexible. A recent survey of MCA members shows that companies are most concerned about the direction of workplace relations, taxation and energy policy; that mining finance is getting harder to obtain and approval times for projects are too long; that new minerals resources need to be identified; and that the key challenge is attracting and retaining skilled labour supported by a dynamic and responsive education system.</div> <div> </div> <div>Of course, the benefits of a new wave of productivity-enhancing reforms would not be confined to mining enterprises, workers or regions. The Productivity Commission has pointed out that reforms implemented in the 1980s and 1990s – notably reducing tariffs, liberalising markets and introducing enterprise bargaining – have helped to sustain 27 years of uninterrupted growth in output and incomes across the economy. Further, the commission found that this growth has significantly improved living standards for the average Australian household in every income decile.</div> <div> </div> <div>Conversely, the opportunity cost of forgoing additional economic reforms will continue to rise as international competition for capital and talent expands and intensifies. There is an urgent need for bold policy action to ensure mining can keep delivering substantial benefits to all Australians.</div> <div> </div> <div><div class="media media-element-container media-default"> <div id="file-3058" class="file file-document file-application-pdf"> <h2 class="element-invisible"><a href="/files/mca-pre-budget-submission-2019-20pdf">MCA Pre-Budget Submission 2019-20.pdf</a></h2> <div class="content"> <span class="file"><img class="file-icon" alt="PDF icon" title="application/pdf" src="/modules/file/icons/application-pdf.png"><a href="https://minerals.org.au/sites/default/files/MCA%20Pre-Budget%20Submission%202019-20.pdf" type="application/pdf; length=820616">MCA Pre-Budget Submission 2019-20.pdf</a></span> </div> </div> </div></div>

https://web.archive.org/web/20190311153350/http://minerals.org.au/news/minerals-council-australia-pre-budget-submission-2019-20

Minerals Council of Australia

http://minerals.org.au/sites/default/files/Drones%20Images_0008_Layer%2076.jpg

Submission to the expert review of Australia's Vocational Education and Training System

http://minerals.org.au/news/submission-expert-review-australias-vocational-education-and-training-system

2019-03-11 15:33:52 UTC

2019-01-24 13:00:00 UTC

2019-02-21 04:56:35 UTC

Minerals Council of Australia

The Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) welcomes the opportunity to make a submission to the expert review of Australia’s vocational education and training (VET) system.

<p>The Minerals Council of Australia (MCA) welcomes the opportunity to make a submission to the expert review of Australia’s vocational education and training (VET) system.</p> <div>This submission has been prepared in consultation with industry and is endorsed by the NSW Minerals Council, Chamber of Minerals and Energy of Western Australia and the Queensland Resources Council.</div> <div> </div> <div>Mining in Australia is a sophisticated and technologically advanced enterprise that requires a highly skilled and adaptable workforce. New capabilities and skills are needed and there are opportunities to attract a broader range of people to the industry. This will require adjustments to tertiary level - higher education and the vocational education and training - landscape and to a lesser extent, primary and secondary education.</div> <div> </div> <div>The future minerals workforce will be more diverse, geographically distributed and digitally connected. It will require broad ranging skills and competencies using both accredited and non-accredited training. Its productivity will be bolstered by new tools of automation, robotics and artificial intelligence.</div> <div> </div> <div>Productivity supports prosperity by ensuring a more efficient allocation of labour and capital. Renewing productivity growth requires the application of new ideas on how work is done and the tools that can be deployed. The imperative of safety is a further driver. The design of the mining workplace is evolving to meet this reality. To embrace these workplace design challenges, and thus maintain Australia’s competitive advantage in mining, new skills are required, enhancing and augmenting those of the existing workforce and providing opportunities for new workers. Flexible labour markets expand the range of these new opportunities.</div> <div> </div> <div>The nation’s most pressing challenge is creating the education, training and workplace framework that provides the skills, capability and flexibility to maintain and enhance Australia’s international competitive advantage. This is especially important for the minerals industry. In securing the future minerals workforce, government will need to work closely with industry to ensure that accredited training is responsive to industry needs and that the broader education and training landscape is flexible, varied and sustainable.</div> <div> </div> <div>An evolving workforce, meaningfully connected and supported to learn, grow and work with purpose is a key industry priority. The newly established MCA Workforce and Innovation Committee are progressing the workforce and innovation agenda through the lens of supply, demand, and pathways; highlighting and reimaging the industry’s capabilities to innovate, engage and leverage diversity.</div> <div> </div> <div>The MCA supports the reforms advanced by Resources 2030 Taskforce and the Productivity Commission to generate a high-quality education system that promotes skills formation and prepares students for technology adoption, use and diffusion, including:</div> <div> </div> <ul> <li>Developing a more coordinated national tertiary curriculum for earth sciences and resources sector qualifications at vocational education and training (VET) and higher education levels</li> <li>Itroducing a more graduated system of student assessment to signal to employers the level of proficiency in VET</li> <li>Developing an objective VET accreditation system that signals the quality of skills, regardless of how they are acquired, to encourage the growth and acceptance of new models of skills formation that are faster, cheaper and more flexible</li> <li>Improving student outcomes by providing affordable, high quality university education with qualifications that are relevant to labour market needs</li> <li>Mapping jobs of the future and skills gaps.</li> </ul> <div> </div> <div>The MCA further recommends:</div> <div> </div> <ul> <li>Government does not put blanket requirements on skills funding as part of licencing or other regulatory arrangements</li> <li>Allocating funds from the Skilling Australians Fund proportionally to each industry’s use of the temporary skilled migration program  Implementing and evaluating pilot programs to test models, interventions and initiatives</li> <li>Re-positioning VET as a valid pathway to securing the right skills for the changing nature of work and skills</li> <li>Deliver a campaign to increase awareness and understanding of the offerings and establishing a stronger narrative on the broader post-secondary education eco-system.</li> </ul> <div>The compatibility of skills and capabilities needed for the future minerals workforce means that implementation of these policy recommendations will have economic and social benefits.</div> <div> </div> <div><div class="media media-element-container media-default"> <div id="file-3092" class="file file-document file-application-pdf"> <h2 class="element-invisible"><a href="/files/submission-expert-review-australias-vet-system-25-jan-2019pdf">Submission to the expert review of Australia's VET system - 25 Jan 2019.pdf</a></h2> <div class="content"> <span class="file"><img class="file-icon" alt="PDF icon" title="application/pdf" src="/modules/file/icons/application-pdf.png"><a href="https://minerals.org.au/sites/default/files/Minerals%20Council%20of%20Australia%20-%20Submission%20to%20the%20expert%20review%20of%20Australia%27s%20VET%20system%20-%2025%20Jan%202019.pdf" type="application/pdf; length=438693">Submission to the expert review of Australia's VET system - 25 Jan 2019.pdf</a></span> </div> </div> </div></div>

https://web.archive.org/web/20190311153353/http://minerals.org.au/news/submission-expert-review-australias-vocational-education-and-training-system

Minerals Council of Australia

http://minerals.org.au/sites/default/files/MCA_Newcrest%20Cadia_Monitoring%20%289%20of%209%29.jpg

Heatwaves proof positive Australia needs nuclear

http://minerals.org.au/news/heatwaves-proof-positive-australia-needs-nuclear

2019-03-11 15:33:58 UTC

2019-01-22 01:31:01 UTC

2019-01-22 01:31:58 UTC

Tania Constable, CEO

As the east coast of Australia sweltered last week, the need for reliable electricity supplies which don’t bust family and business budgets was again clear when we switched on airconditioners at home, work or in shopping centres. Between Monday and Friday last week, at least 80 per cent of all electricity consumed by businesses and families in NSW, Queensland and Victoria came from baseload coal-fired generators. Baseload power generation underpins the supply of cheap, reliable and secure power in NSW and across Australia.

<p>As the east coast of Australia sweltered last week, the need for reliable electricity supplies which don’t bust family and business budgets was again clear when we switched on airconditioners at home, work or in shopping centres.</p> <p>Between Monday and Friday last week, at least 80 per cent of all electricity consumed by businesses and families in NSW, Queensland and Victoria came from baseload coal-fired generators. Baseload power generation underpins the supply of cheap, reliable and secure power in NSW and across Australia.</p> <p>These are the power stations that are still there when the wind’s not blowing and the sun’s not shining. Up to now we have largely taken these for granted — or at least we did until the close of Hazelwood in 2017 when wholesale prices increased 80 per cent — and concerns about the ability of the power system to meet demand became real.</p> <p>With the 1800MW Liddell Power Station in NSW (larger than the 1600MW supplied by Victoria’s Hazelwood plant) slated to close in 2022 we are now seeing history repeat. Prices are expected to rise and it’s not clear where the replacement power will come from or that it will be there when we need it.</p> <p>The situation is worse than that. The influx of part-time power sources such as wind and solar which make it more difficult for older baseload power stations to operate will likely see the early closure of a number of them well before 2030.</p> <p>These include Vales Point in NSW, Yallourn Power Station in Victoria, Gladstone C in Queensland and Torrens A in South Australia. Between them and Liddell Power Station, they represent about 30 per cent of our baseload capacity.</p> <p>Given the very real challenges we have in trying to reduce energy prices while making sure there’s enough power, the focus should be on making sure our critical low-cost baseload power stations can be upgraded.</p> <p>Doing so would mean we can use existing infrastructure such as transmission lines which have contributed so much to previous price rises.</p> <p>Yet this has not been the approach by the Australian Energy Market Operator (AEMO).</p> <p>Just before Christmas AEMO, along with the CSIRO, released the Gen Cost 2018 study looking at the cost of alternative generation technologies. Not surprisingly, this report confirmed the fast-evolving nature of energy technologies — particularly the falling cost of renewables.</p> <p>This gets a tick — a reduction in emissions is a good thing for Australia.</p> <p>What the report didn’t do was consider upgrades at existing baseload plants such as upgrading boilers and turbines. This means that AEMO and CSIRO missed a golden opportunity to consider an important way of lowering power prices, ensuring reliability and lowering emissions through advanced coal technology.</p> <p>Daily Telegraph readers sweltering through summer and small business owners in Western Sydney should know that this issue goes beyond an obscure technology report.</p> <p>The GenCost 2018 study underpins AEMO’s future Integrated System Plan which was released last year and was a key recommendation of the Finkel Review. This plan failed to consider whether upgrades of our existing baseload plants might provide the cheapest way to lower prices, ensure reliability and lower emissions.</p> <p>Surely it’s time we looked at the potential for upgrades at existing baseload power stations as part of future energy policy certainty to lower prices and improve reliability while reducing emissions.</p> <p>In the same way, we need to have an honest conversation about the role of nuclear power — which the Finkel Review described as something governments should look at, but which for some reason was ‘beyond the scope’ of the review.</p> <p>If we are truly serious about reducing emissions in a world where energy demand is only increasing, nuclear power must be on the table.</p> <p>Nuclear power was prohibited in Australia in 1998 in a political trade-off for the passage of legislation centralising radiation regulation.</p> <p>Public debate at the time, fanned by the antinuclear movement, centred on the replacement of the Lucas Heights reactor. The political fix was to draw a line through the industry. After all, the need for nuclear was low — energy was affordable, abundant and with a country full of coal, there was no reason to believe that would change.</p> <p>The good news is the nuclear ban can be reversed with a single amendment to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 — which happens to be due for review this year.</p> <p>The removal of four words — ‘a nuclear power plant’ — in Section 140A(1) (b) would allow nuclear industries to be considered for development in Australia. Any nuclear projects would still have to meet Australia’s stringent environmental and safety requirements. Nuclear energy has changed significantly. There is now a family of new technologies — small modular reactors — leading the way in cost. These are readily deployable and produce zero emissions. With these qualities, nuclear energy shouldn’t be excluded from Australia’s energy mix.</p> <p>It has met energy challenges around the world, powers more than 30 economies and been deployed at substantial scale within a decade in countries such as the UAE. Nuclear power is also behind the new generation of innovative nuclear start-ups, such as Bill Gates’s TerraPower and Transatomic out of MIT.</p> <p>Australia, with its educated workforce, established uranium mines, nuclear research and university sectors and strong non-proliferation credentials, would be a partner of choice for private venture capital-funded new nuclear energy.</p> <p>Along with upgrades to existing coal-fired generators, our regulators and politicians should open their eyes to this commonsense approach to dealing with what is now a major problem for Australia — how to lower power prices and making sure the lights stay on while also reducing emissions.</p> <p>*This article was published in The Daily Telegraph on 22 January 2019.</p> <p></p> <div class="media media-element-container media-default"> <div id="file-3028" class="file file-document file-application-pdf"> <h2 class="element-invisible"><a href="/files/190122-heatwaves-proof-positive-australia-needs-nuclearpdf">190122 Heatwaves proof positive Australia needs nuclear.pdf</a></h2> <div class="content"> <span class="file"><img class="file-icon" alt="PDF icon" title="application/pdf" src="/modules/file/icons/application-pdf.png"><a href="https://minerals.org.au/sites/default/files/190122%20Heatwaves%20proof%20positive%20Australia%20needs%20nuclear.pdf" type="application/pdf; length=71918">190122 Heatwaves proof positive Australia needs nuclear.pdf</a></span> </div> </div> </div> <p> </p> <p> </p>

https://web.archive.org/web/20190311153359/http://minerals.org.au/news/heatwaves-proof-positive-australia-needs-nuclear

Minerals Council of Australia

http://minerals.org.au/sites/default/files/ERA_Mine_Truck_under_Discriminator.jpg

The populists' multi-billion blunder on foreign investment in Australia

http://minerals.org.au/news/populists-multi-billion-blunder-foreign-investment-australia

2019-03-11 15:34:06 UTC

2019-01-21 00:27:14 UTC

2019-01-22 01:32:48 UTC

Tania Constable, CEO

There is a growing populist view that foreign investment is bad for Australia: it takes jobs away, takes profits out of the country and foreigners end up owning our land. This view is mistaken and damaging to our future job growth, prosperity and potential as a nation. Foreign investment has been critical to Australia's unparalleled 27 years of continuous economic growth.

<p>There is a growing populist view that foreign investment is bad for Australia: it takes jobs away, takes profits out of the country and foreigners end up owning our land.</p> <p>This view is mistaken and damaging to our future job growth, prosperity and potential as a nation.</p> <p>Foreign investment has been critical to Australia's unparalleled 27 years of continuous economic growth.</p> <p>Yet even as the benefits of foreign capital inflows continue to flow and grow, populist agendas threaten our capacity to compete for the capital we need to develop our resources, technology and the next generation of jobs and resources professionals.</p> <p>Australia has been built on foreign investment. It has helped our country to grow stronger and funded our roads, railways, communications, ports, dams, energy and other infrastructure – the building blocks of our industries and a more prosperous nation.</p> <p>It is a happy coincidence that we are part of Asia and endowed with the natural resources required by rapidly growing economies in Asia to cater for increased urbanisation and rise into middle class.</p> <p>Decades of planning, effort and foreign investment have put into place the infrastructure, skills and production capacity required to supply growing economies in our region.</p> <p>This foresight has enabled us to build infrastructure and develop technologies that have made Australia a leading exporter of minerals and energy globally, and the beneficiary of the income and technology it has provided.</p> <p><strong>Adding value to Australia</strong></p> <p>The value of foreign direct investment (FDI) in Australia's resources sector increased eight-fold between 2001 and 2017, from $36.8 billion to $315.3 billion.</p> <p>The resources sector is the largest destination of FDI, accounting for more than 37 per cent.</p> <p>Over the same period, the number of Australians directly employed in the resources sector grew from about 80,000 to 220,000.</p> <p>And the value created by FDI in minerals is overwhelmingly retained in Australia, with 77 per cent of revenues earned by the nation's major iron ore producers staying in Australia as payments to suppliers or taxes and royalties to governments.</p> <p>In 2017-18 export income from resources and energy was $221 billion, or 55 per cent of the total income we earned from trading in goods and services.</p> <p>That income supported the jobs and families of almost 1 million Australians, with the majority of those living in rural and regional Australia.</p> <p>Every one of us, whether we live in regional or metropolitan Australia, directly benefits from mining and its products.</p> <p>We benefit from the $203.6 billion in company tax and royalties paid by mining companies in the 12 years between 2005-06 and 2016-17. In 2016-17 alone, $23.3 billion in company tax and royalties – or an effective tax rate of 51 per cent – helped fund our teachers, healthcare professionals and hospital staff, police and firefighters.</p> <p>The investment in technology research is often co-funded by the companies that invested in our resources projects as they seek to meet the demand for minerals and energy at home.</p> <p>For example, six decades of investment by Japan have built a platform of co-operation on advanced manufacturing, tourism, infrastructure, ICT, finance and agribusiness and a two-way investment relationship of $322 billion.</p> <p>In 2016 there were 421 Japanese companies and subsidiaries operating in Australia, with the top 100 companies employing more than 58,000 people.</p> <p><strong>Widespread benefits</strong></p> <p>We all benefit from the technologies emerging from the research our mining sector supports in partnership with universities and technology companies, with technologies adopted and applied to progress efficient and sustainable energy, agriculture, water and land management.</p> <p>Those technologies also help us efficiently and sustainably produce the premium-quality metallurgical coal and iron ore that allow the growing economies of Asia to urbanise.</p> <p>This innovation also helps us find and produce the copper, gold, rare earth metals, lithium, uranium, cobalt and other minerals essential to the development and deployment of the next generation of technologies for energy production, transformation, transportation and end use.</p> <p>And while our researchers collaborate with our investment partners, we continue to supply high-grade uranium, coal and gas to the growing Asian region, reducing the higher emissions generated from the lower-grade coal that would otherwise be used.</p> <p>Without the investment in technologies that drive efficient production of these resources, there would be no copper to wire the windfarms, electric cars, houses and technologies we enjoy today – let alone the advances needed for the next generation smartphone, laptop, generator or battery.</p> <p>Without foreign investment, Australians would not have enjoyed the transfers of technology, skills and capabilities and access to global supply chains and export markets that have increased average household real income by $8448 a year between 1986 and 2016.</p> <p>For the past 40 years foreign investment has filled the shortfall in the country's capital requirements, averaging 4 per cent of GDP. But we can't afford to be complacent, as the annual review of investment by the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development shows global direct investment flows to Australia fell sharply by 23 per cent in 2017 to 2.4 per cent of global GDP.</p> <p>Without foreign investment, Australia would need to take on additional debt or forgo the benefits of finance and technology inflows – and we will all be the poorer for it.</p> <p>It's time to look beyond narrow populism and ensure our policy and regulatory settings support Australia's attractiveness as a destination for foreign investment. Australians depend on it.</p> <p>*This article was published in the Australian Financial Review on 21 January 2019.</p> <p></p> <div class="media media-element-container media-default"> <div id="file-3026" class="file file-document file-application-pdf"> <h2 class="element-invisible"><a href="/files/190121-afr-foreign-investmentpdf">190121 AFR Foreign Investment.pdf</a></h2> <div class="content"> <span class="file"><img class="file-icon" alt="PDF icon" title="application/pdf" src="/modules/file/icons/application-pdf.png"><a href="http://minerals.org.au/sites/default/files/190121%20AFR%20Foreign%20Investment.pdf" type="application/pdf; length=87576">190121 AFR Foreign Investment.pdf</a></span> </div> </div> </div> <p> </p>

https://web.archive.org/web/20190311153406/http://minerals.org.au/news/populists-multi-billion-blunder-foreign-investment-australia

Minerals Council of Australia

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Jobs and investment under threat from NT Government’s mining tax grab

http://minerals.org.au/news/jobs-and-investment-under-threat-nt-government%E2%80%99s-mining-tax-grab

2019-03-11 15:34:08 UTC

2019-01-17 03:42:59 UTC

2019-01-17 03:44:40 UTC

Drew Wagner, Executive Director MCA NT

New mining taxes imposed as part of the NT Government’s proposed Environment Protection Bill and Regulations would threaten high-paying jobs, living standards and investment in the Territory. MCA’s submission to the NT Government on the Bill and Regulations outlines a series of so-called cost recovery measures and non-refundable financial assurance levies which will unfairly tax miners and undermine the future of communities across the Territory.

<p>New mining taxes imposed as part of the NT Government’s proposed Environment Protection Bill and Regulations would threaten high-paying jobs, living standards and investment in the Territory.</p> <p>MCA’s <a href="https://www.minerals.org.au/news/mca-nt-submission-environment-protection-bill-and-regulations">submission</a> to the NT Government on the Bill and Regulations outlines a series of so-called cost recovery measures and non-refundable financial assurance levies which will unfairly tax miners and undermine the future of communities across the Territory.</p> <p>The mining tax grab will also include additional taxes to fund routine paperwork and advice traditionally paid for by government departments.</p> <p>These taxes will be imposed on top of existing taxes paid, including $350 million in annual royalties, and despite the NT’s world-class mining companies complying with all environmental and mine rehabilitation regulations.</p> <p>Along with all Territorians, the mining industry is already paying taxes to fund the NT EPA, its bureaucrats and advisers to deliver basic environmental management and administration.</p> <p>These new taxes will drive up the cost of doing business in the Territory and put at risk the government’s plan to kickstart economic and population growth. </p> <p>Legislative and policy uncertainty in the NT has already seen the investment attractiveness of the Territory slip from seventh in the world in 2015 to 27^th in 2017.</p> <p>And future jobs will evaporate if business is thwarted from making major investment decisions because of these new taxes and the burdensome approval process contained in the Bill.</p> <p>MCA supports best-practice environmental standards and safeguards. </p> <p>However, the Bill in its current form will result in more red and green tape, making it more difficult for major projects to proceed and endangering high-paying mining jobs in communities throughout the Territory.</p> <p>MCA strongly supports a return to prosperity for the Territory through the implementation of effective legislation and regulation that creates a competitive investment setting with certainty of process, assessment, access and approval.</p> <p> </p> <p>ends</p> <p></p> <div class="media media-element-container media-default"> <div id="file-3022" class="file file-document file-application-pdf"> <h2 class="element-invisible"><a href="/files/190116-jobs-and-investment-under-threat-nt-government%E2%80%99s-mining-tax-grabpdf">190116 Jobs and investment under threat from NT Government’s mining tax grab.pdf</a></h2> <div class="content"> <span class="file"><img class="file-icon" alt="PDF icon" title="application/pdf" src="/modules/file/icons/application-pdf.png"><a href="http://minerals.org.au/sites/default/files/190116%20Jobs%20and%20investment%20under%20threat%20from%20NT%20Government%E2%80%99s%20mining%20tax%20grab.pdf" type="application/pdf; length=147374">190116 Jobs and investment under threat from NT Government’s mining tax grab.pdf</a></span> </div> </div> </div>

https://web.archive.org/web/20190311153408/http://minerals.org.au/news/jobs-and-investment-under-threat-nt-government%E2%80%99s-mining-tax-grab

Minerals Council of Australia

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MCA NT Submission on Environment Protection Bill and Regulations

http://minerals.org.au/news/mca-nt-submission-environment-protection-bill-and-regulations

2019-03-11 15:34:10 UTC

2019-01-16 05:09:59 UTC

2019-01-17 00:37:41 UTC

Drew Wagner, Executive Director MCA NT

The MCA NT appreciates the opportunity to comment on the draft Environment Protection Bill and Regulations. The MCA NT also acknowledges the work and effort over the past 2-3 years by government representatives, particularly from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to actively engage with industry, and the consultation process that has been undertaken.  

<div>The MCA NT appreciates the opportunity to comment on the draft Environment Protection Bill and Regulations. The MCA NT also acknowledges the work and effort over the past 2-3 years by government representatives, particularly from the Department of Environment and Natural Resources (DENR) to actively engage with industry, and the consultation process that has been undertaken.</div> <div> </div> <div>The MCA NT, like many across the Territory, is pleased to see the achievement of this milestone: release of the Draft Bill and Regulations. The MCA NT recognises that this has been an extensive task undertaken by the government, and an exhausting one as well, for all involved.</div> <div> </div> <div>This process, culminating in drafting and release of the Environment Protection Bill and Regulations, has led to a somewhat mixed bag of outcomes, regarding the positioning and development of the Northern Territory’s minerals sector. The MCA NT understands that this process was to improve as well as futureproof the assessment and approvals process of the Northern Territory Government, but this cannot come at the disproportionate cost of economic, social and regional development and benefit.</div> <div> </div> <div><div class="media media-element-container media-default"> <div id="file-3017" class="file file-document file-application-pdf"> <h2 class="element-invisible"><a href="/files/190116-mca-nt-environment-protection-bill-and-regulationspdf">190116 MCA NT Environment Protection Bill and Regulations.pdf</a></h2> <div class="content"> <span class="file"><img class="file-icon" alt="PDF icon" title="application/pdf" src="/modules/file/icons/application-pdf.png"><a href="http://minerals.org.au/sites/default/files/190116%20MCA%20NT%20Environment%20Protection%20Bill%20and%20Regulations.pdf" type="application/pdf; length=176377">190116 MCA NT Environment Protection Bill and Regulations.pdf</a></span> </div> </div> </div></div>

https://web.archive.org/web/20190311153411/http://minerals.org.au/news/mca-nt-submission-environment-protection-bill-and-regulations

Minerals Council of Australia

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Submission on Galilee Basin (Coal Prohibition) Bill 2018

http://minerals.org.au/news/submission-galilee-basin-coal-prohibition-bill-2018

2019-03-11 15:34:13 UTC

2019-01-03 18:59:56 UTC

2019-01-03 19:00:13 UTC

Tania Constable, CEO

MCA’s submission to the Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee Inquiry into the Galilee Basin (Coal Prohibition) Bill 2018 outlines the potential of Queensland’s Galilee Basin to provide thousands of jobs to Queenslanders and support regional communities through responsible mining. These projects would boost small businesses throughout Central Queensland and improve public services to all Queenslanders through significant royalties. 

<p>MCA’s submission to the Senate Environment and Communications Legislation Committee Inquiry into the Galilee Basin (Coal Prohibition) Bill 2018 outlines the potential of Queensland’s Galilee Basin to provide thousands of jobs to Queenslanders and support regional communities through responsible mining.</p> <p>These projects would boost small businesses throughout Central Queensland and improve public services to all Queenslanders through significant royalties. </p> <p></p> <div class="media media-element-container media-default"> <div id="file-3010" class="file file-document file-application-pdf"> <h2 class="element-invisible"><a href="/files/190104-mca-submission-galilee-basin-coal-prohibition-bill-2018pdf">190104 MCA Submission - Galilee Basin (Coal Prohibition) Bill 2018.pdf</a></h2> <div class="content"> <span class="file"><img class="file-icon" alt="PDF icon" title="application/pdf" src="/modules/file/icons/application-pdf.png"><a href="http://minerals.org.au/sites/default/files/190104%20MCA%20Submission%20-%20Galilee%20Basin%20%28Coal%20Prohibition%29%20Bill%20%202018.pdf" type="application/pdf; length=397681">190104 MCA Submission - Galilee Basin (Coal Prohibition) Bill 2018.pdf</a></span> </div> </div> </div>

https://web.archive.org/web/20190311153413/http://minerals.org.au/news/submission-galilee-basin-coal-prohibition-bill-2018

Minerals Council of Australia

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