❓ The Minister outlines WA's strategy to become a world leader in the battery industry, highlighting existing projects, investments, and job creation, driven by WA's resources, stable environment, and high standards.
AnsweredQoN 325Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
FUTURE BATTERY INDUSTRY
325. Ms A.E. KENT to the Minister for Mines and Petroleum:
I refer to the McGowan Labor government's
commitment to diversify the Western Australian economy and create local jobs. Can the minister update the house on
the work underway to make WA a world leader in the future batteries industry; and can the minister outline to the
house how our state can benefit from growing demand for electric vehicles and renewable energy storage systems?
325. Ms A.E. KENT to the Minister for Mines and Petroleum:
I refer to the McGowan Labor government's
commitment to diversify the Western Australian economy and create local jobs. Can the minister update the house on
the work underway to make WA a world leader in the future batteries industry; and can the minister outline to the
house how our state can benefit from growing demand for electric vehicles and renewable energy storage systems?
AnswerView source ↗
An
excellent question, and I congratulate the member for asking a question that is
so relevant to the goldfields because many of the raw materials are
being extracted in her electorate.
We have a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity to make a real change to global supply chains through the
decarbonisation process. This is a unique opportunity for Western Australia.
WA is the only place that has all the materials that go into a battery. We have
a stable and robust investment environment, we are a jurisdiction with very low
sovereign risk, and we are a world leader in research and development. The
McGowan government has a clear strategy to support the battery industry and
move resource processing further down the value chain.
I
am pleased that Future Battery Industries CRC Ltd, which is headquartered here
in Western Australia and is being partnered by the Western Australian state
government, is building a demonstration plant to show how we can convert our
materials into precursor chemicals and cathode active materials, because we
want to go even further down the value chain. Future Battery Industries CRC
recently published a report, Future charge: Building Australia's
battery industries , which shows that Western Australia has a real chance to
go even further down the battery value chain.
We have some real success stories.
A little while ago I reported on Nickel West's deal with Tesla, which
will take advantage of Nickel West's
nickel value chain. It goes through the smelter in Kalgoorlie and includes the
refinery in the Premier's electorate, which is the world's
largest nickel refinery. That has now been converted to make nickel sulphate,
which is the material that goes into batteries.
Albemarle Corporation and Tianqi
Lithium are both well advanced in the construction of their plants in Kemerton
and Kwinana, and we know that Covalent Lithium is also getting closer to making
a decision for that project. The good news
is that for all those projects, Western Australian industry has shareholding
partners. Mineral Resources Ltd is partnered with Albemarle; IGO is
partnered with Tianqi; and Wesfarmers is a 50–50 joint venture partner
with SQM. We know that other projects are being looked at in Kalgoorlie and the
eastern goldfields as well.
Of course, Kalgoorlie is likely to
be the site of the Lynas cracking and leaching plant, which is outside the
battery industry but in the critical mineral space. The $500 million investment
into a rare earth plant will create high-skill, high-wages jobs and change the nature of the economy in Kalgoorlie. We
also have Hastings Technology Metals Ltd examining a project in the
Ashburton industrial estate, and Iluka looking at the midwest, so we can have a
real footprint beyond the battery metals chain and into rare earths as well.
EcoGraf is getting its project ready, again in the Premier's electorate,
and International Graphite is going into Collie. We are spreading the jobs
around the state and welcoming investment from these important international
partners. We are pleased that Australian businesses are participating. We are looking forward to the transfer of technology
so that we can become an even more valuable contributor to the global
battery chain with critical minerals.
I want to finish by pointing out
that already 13 000 Western Australians earn a living from the battery
industry. We think we can double that. We
think it is a really genuine opportunity to create high-skilled, high-wage jobs
here in Western Australia. The things driving investment are our high
level of environmental expectations, our high level of expectations in labour
relations, our high safety standards and our highly skilled workforce. They are
the things driving it. They are the advantages. We are really pleased that we
can take every opportunity to support this important industry.
excellent question, and I congratulate the member for asking a question that is
so relevant to the goldfields because many of the raw materials are
being extracted in her electorate.
We have a once-in-a-lifetime
opportunity to make a real change to global supply chains through the
decarbonisation process. This is a unique opportunity for Western Australia.
WA is the only place that has all the materials that go into a battery. We have
a stable and robust investment environment, we are a jurisdiction with very low
sovereign risk, and we are a world leader in research and development. The
McGowan government has a clear strategy to support the battery industry and
move resource processing further down the value chain.
I
am pleased that Future Battery Industries CRC Ltd, which is headquartered here
in Western Australia and is being partnered by the Western Australian state
government, is building a demonstration plant to show how we can convert our
materials into precursor chemicals and cathode active materials, because we
want to go even further down the value chain. Future Battery Industries CRC
recently published a report, Future charge: Building Australia's
battery industries , which shows that Western Australia has a real chance to
go even further down the battery value chain.
We have some real success stories.
A little while ago I reported on Nickel West's deal with Tesla, which
will take advantage of Nickel West's
nickel value chain. It goes through the smelter in Kalgoorlie and includes the
refinery in the Premier's electorate, which is the world's
largest nickel refinery. That has now been converted to make nickel sulphate,
which is the material that goes into batteries.
Albemarle Corporation and Tianqi
Lithium are both well advanced in the construction of their plants in Kemerton
and Kwinana, and we know that Covalent Lithium is also getting closer to making
a decision for that project. The good news
is that for all those projects, Western Australian industry has shareholding
partners. Mineral Resources Ltd is partnered with Albemarle; IGO is
partnered with Tianqi; and Wesfarmers is a 50–50 joint venture partner
with SQM. We know that other projects are being looked at in Kalgoorlie and the
eastern goldfields as well.
Of course, Kalgoorlie is likely to
be the site of the Lynas cracking and leaching plant, which is outside the
battery industry but in the critical mineral space. The $500 million investment
into a rare earth plant will create high-skill, high-wages jobs and change the nature of the economy in Kalgoorlie. We
also have Hastings Technology Metals Ltd examining a project in the
Ashburton industrial estate, and Iluka looking at the midwest, so we can have a
real footprint beyond the battery metals chain and into rare earths as well.
EcoGraf is getting its project ready, again in the Premier's electorate,
and International Graphite is going into Collie. We are spreading the jobs
around the state and welcoming investment from these important international
partners. We are pleased that Australian businesses are participating. We are looking forward to the transfer of technology
so that we can become an even more valuable contributor to the global
battery chain with critical minerals.
I want to finish by pointing out
that already 13 000 Western Australians earn a living from the battery
industry. We think we can double that. We
think it is a really genuine opportunity to create high-skilled, high-wage jobs
here in Western Australia. The things driving investment are our high
level of environmental expectations, our high level of expectations in labour
relations, our high safety standards and our highly skilled workforce. They are
the things driving it. They are the advantages. We are really pleased that we
can take every opportunity to support this important industry.
Explore WA Government Data
Search the full archive in the free dashboard, or query programmatically via API.
Explore more
Government Gazette
Appointments, regulatory notices, planning changes.
Hansard
Debates, questions, speeches and sentiment.
Tabled Papers
Reports and documents tabled in Parliament.
Committees
Committee profiles and recent reports.
Regulations
Subsidiary legislation with filters and summaries.
Bills
Proposed laws and parliamentary progress.
Acts
Current WA legislation and summaries.
Explanatory Memoranda
Bills with EMs (text/PDF) available.
Members
MP profiles, party breakdown and rankings.
Pollie Rankings
Data-driven rankings across 19 categories.
Amendment Chains
Track how schemes and regulations evolve over time.