❓ The Premier provides an update on the Invest and Trade WA Indonesia Connect Roadshow 2023, highlighting the government's focus on economic diversification, decarbonisation, and strengthening trade relationships with Indonesia, particularly in critical minerals and renewable energy.
AnsweredQoN 615Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
INVEST AND TRADE WA
INDONESIA CONNECT ROADSHOW
615. Mr P.C. TINLEY to the Premier:
I refer to the Cook Labor government's
sustained efforts to diversify the economy.
(1) Can the
Premier update the house on outcomes from the recent Invest and Trade WA
Indonesia Connect Roadshow 2023?
(2) Can the Premier outline how this government is
fostering strong relationships with international neighbours to grow
trade opportunities for Western Australia?
INDONESIA CONNECT ROADSHOW
615. Mr P.C. TINLEY to the Premier:
I refer to the Cook Labor government's
sustained efforts to diversify the economy.
(1) Can the
Premier update the house on outcomes from the recent Invest and Trade WA
Indonesia Connect Roadshow 2023?
(2) Can the Premier outline how this government is
fostering strong relationships with international neighbours to grow
trade opportunities for Western Australia?
AnswerView source ↗
Before I answer the question, on behalf
of the members for Perth and Mirrabooka, I acknowledge First Class Constable
Ella Cutler who has had a very bad accident in Croatia and is in a very
difficult situation. She is a great police officer and frontline worker, and
our thoughts go out to her and her family. I hope we can resolve those issues
soon.
I also wish to acknowledge that
today another one of our workers has lost their life on a worksite. Let us all
continue to commit ourselves to making sure that people can get home safely at
the end of the day.
(1)–(2) I
thank the member for the question. My government is unapologetic, and has as
its high priority the economic diversification of our economy and our markets.
It is about creating a resilient economy that can withstand shocks, whether they
are geopolitical shocks, downturns in other trading partners or other
interruptions to our economic prosperity. It is important to make sure that we
work with our closest trading partners to continue to drive trade and economic
growth.
In particular, our Diversify WA
strategy is about decarbonising our economy, and we are not only looking to
decarbonise our state and economy, but to help other nations to transition to
renewable energy as well. Here in WA, we are rapidly growing our critical
minerals and rare-earth sectors—exploration, mining, processing and,
increasingly, manufacturing. In less than a decade, Western Australia has
successfully established a multibillion-dollar
battery and critical minerals processing industry largely under the guidance of the Minister for Mines and Petroleum, who is our minister responsible for
battery energy strategy.
We have seen global-scale
investments in battery-grade lithium, lithium hydroxide, nickel sulphate and
rare earths processing projects. These projects are just the tip of the
iceberg. As this burgeoning industry continues to grow, this government is
working to ensure our key trading partners are primed to invest, collaborate
and mutually benefit from the shift to net zero. One of these trading partners
is our closest—Indonesia. It is the fourth most populous nation in the
world with 278 million people and the largest Association of Southeast Asian
Nations economy. It is an important opportunity for us. I had the absolute
pleasure last week to lead the state's largest ever overseas investment
and trade mission to Indonesia. I was accompanied by Ministers Johnson, Jarvis
and Templeman, who sounds like he picked up a pretty nasty flu in the process. We focused on the key areas of critical
minerals, agriculture, international education , creative industries and
tourism.
A particularly important part of
this trip was the Western Australian–Indonesia Energy Forum, which we
held in Jakarta. Both regions are in an enviable position in relation to
energy. Indonesia has the world's largest deposits of nickel, providing
90 per cent of the world's nickel sulphate. Western Australia has the
largest deposits of lithium and provides over half the world's supply.
We are both beautifully placed to be in partnership to assist the world as part
of its clean energy transition.
At the forum, we saw WA industry
liaising directly with Indonesian industry on exciting plans for the future—for
example, the opportunity for WA to support Indonesia with its ambitions to be a
global leader in electrical vehicle manufacture through midstream processing in
WA or strengthening collaboration to secure future battery and critical
minerals supply chains. We also have a commitment to continued engagement with
the Future Battery Industries Cooperative Research Centre located at Curtin
University.
These
outcomes are built on my meeting with President Joko Widodo to sign a plan of
action with KADIN , the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry,
earlier this year. This plan of action strengthens our economic ties, trade and
supply chain opportunity. It also supports the existing memorandum of
understanding we have with KADIN signed in February this year.
We are at a critical moment of our
history. The race to renewables is now well and truly underway, and Australia
and Indonesia have a once-in-a-generation chance to maximise the opportunities
presented by decarbonisation. I look forward to working with Indonesia, as our
closest neighbour and long-time trading partner, to achieve more great things,
and look forward to discussing how we can seize further opportunities for our
respective jurisdictions.
This is about WA jobs. This is
about great companies in Western Australia taking the opportunity of being a trading
state with our closest neighbour in the ASEAN region. It is a very exciting
time, and I very much look forward to continuing to work with the 130 representatives
we had in Indonesia as part of this trip and with all Western Australian
industry to seize these great opportunities.
of the members for Perth and Mirrabooka, I acknowledge First Class Constable
Ella Cutler who has had a very bad accident in Croatia and is in a very
difficult situation. She is a great police officer and frontline worker, and
our thoughts go out to her and her family. I hope we can resolve those issues
soon.
I also wish to acknowledge that
today another one of our workers has lost their life on a worksite. Let us all
continue to commit ourselves to making sure that people can get home safely at
the end of the day.
(1)–(2) I
thank the member for the question. My government is unapologetic, and has as
its high priority the economic diversification of our economy and our markets.
It is about creating a resilient economy that can withstand shocks, whether they
are geopolitical shocks, downturns in other trading partners or other
interruptions to our economic prosperity. It is important to make sure that we
work with our closest trading partners to continue to drive trade and economic
growth.
In particular, our Diversify WA
strategy is about decarbonising our economy, and we are not only looking to
decarbonise our state and economy, but to help other nations to transition to
renewable energy as well. Here in WA, we are rapidly growing our critical
minerals and rare-earth sectors—exploration, mining, processing and,
increasingly, manufacturing. In less than a decade, Western Australia has
successfully established a multibillion-dollar
battery and critical minerals processing industry largely under the guidance of the Minister for Mines and Petroleum, who is our minister responsible for
battery energy strategy.
We have seen global-scale
investments in battery-grade lithium, lithium hydroxide, nickel sulphate and
rare earths processing projects. These projects are just the tip of the
iceberg. As this burgeoning industry continues to grow, this government is
working to ensure our key trading partners are primed to invest, collaborate
and mutually benefit from the shift to net zero. One of these trading partners
is our closest—Indonesia. It is the fourth most populous nation in the
world with 278 million people and the largest Association of Southeast Asian
Nations economy. It is an important opportunity for us. I had the absolute
pleasure last week to lead the state's largest ever overseas investment
and trade mission to Indonesia. I was accompanied by Ministers Johnson, Jarvis
and Templeman, who sounds like he picked up a pretty nasty flu in the process. We focused on the key areas of critical
minerals, agriculture, international education , creative industries and
tourism.
A particularly important part of
this trip was the Western Australian–Indonesia Energy Forum, which we
held in Jakarta. Both regions are in an enviable position in relation to
energy. Indonesia has the world's largest deposits of nickel, providing
90 per cent of the world's nickel sulphate. Western Australia has the
largest deposits of lithium and provides over half the world's supply.
We are both beautifully placed to be in partnership to assist the world as part
of its clean energy transition.
At the forum, we saw WA industry
liaising directly with Indonesian industry on exciting plans for the future—for
example, the opportunity for WA to support Indonesia with its ambitions to be a
global leader in electrical vehicle manufacture through midstream processing in
WA or strengthening collaboration to secure future battery and critical
minerals supply chains. We also have a commitment to continued engagement with
the Future Battery Industries Cooperative Research Centre located at Curtin
University.
These
outcomes are built on my meeting with President Joko Widodo to sign a plan of
action with KADIN , the Indonesian Chamber of Commerce and Industry,
earlier this year. This plan of action strengthens our economic ties, trade and
supply chain opportunity. It also supports the existing memorandum of
understanding we have with KADIN signed in February this year.
We are at a critical moment of our
history. The race to renewables is now well and truly underway, and Australia
and Indonesia have a once-in-a-generation chance to maximise the opportunities
presented by decarbonisation. I look forward to working with Indonesia, as our
closest neighbour and long-time trading partner, to achieve more great things,
and look forward to discussing how we can seize further opportunities for our
respective jurisdictions.
This is about WA jobs. This is
about great companies in Western Australia taking the opportunity of being a trading
state with our closest neighbour in the ASEAN region. It is a very exciting
time, and I very much look forward to continuing to work with the 130 representatives
we had in Indonesia as part of this trip and with all Western Australian
industry to seize these great opportunities.
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