LITHIUM
INDUSTRY
1206. Hon CHARLES SMITH to the minister representing Minister
for Mines and Petroleum:
I
refer to a June 2020 report by the Chamber of Minerals and Energy and the
Association of Mining and Exploration Companies, which stated that compared
with other jurisdictions globally, the Western Australian and Australian governments have done little policy-wise to
support the upstream Western Australian lithium sector and, by extension,
downstream processing activities.
Does
the state government concede that without greater government support, Western Australia
risks being consigned to a stunted, low-value role in the global value chain
of lithium batteries and products that contain them?
Hon
ALANNAH MacTIERNAN replied:
I thank the member for the question
and for his patience in waiting for a full answer to be provided. The following
information has been provided by the Minister for Mines and Petroleum.
The Western Australian government
has provided significant support to the upstream and downstream battery industries, including the lithium sector. This
assistance includes amendments to the lithium royalty rate to encourage downstream processing in Western Australia and the
establishment of the Future Battery Industry Ministerial Taskforce and
the industry reference group, consisting of industry experts providing advice
to further develop this industry in our state. The McGowan government has also
invested $6 million in the Future Battery Industries Cooperative Research
Centre, which aims to develop and support the battery and lithium sector. The Western
Australian government has had involvement in
numerous local and international conferences, marketing prospectuses and in-person
advocacy to promote and support this industry. The government has also made
available a $13.2 million incentive package for a precursor chemical plant or a
cathode active material plant. The Western Australian government urges the
federal government also to play a positive role.