Critical minerals projects ‘at risk from Labor environment plan’

afr.com:

Billions of dollars in future investment and tens of thousands of jobs in Western Australia’s critical minerals and wider resources sector are at risk from the Albanese government’s plans to reshape environmental protection laws, industry warns.

More than $300 billion worth of known investment projects are yet to receive environmental approval in the state, according to a Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia report that suggests “a significant portion” risked being delayed or scaled back by federal environmental reforms.

The Chamber of Commerce and Industry of Western Australia says federal environmental reforms will unfairly target the state.  

And while the Albanese government has moved to spur investment in critical minerals with an additional $2 billion in taxpayer-funded loans and guarantees, the chamber warned it would amount to little without reasonable environmental approval processes.

“The government’s extra commitment for critical minerals is welcome, but will count for nothing if projects get tied up in years of pointless green tape. We’ll be all dressed up with nowhere to go,” CCIWA chief economist Aaron Morey told The Australian Financial Review.

“While we can’t compete with the scale of subsidies on offer in the US, what we do have within our power is to make our approval system as efficient as possible.”

The report said the government’s move to expand environmental oversight and create a new national environmental protection agency would unfairly target WA due to the state’s reliance on extractive industries.

“WA has the most to lose from the federal government’s proposed new environmental agenda,” the report said.

“The more the Commonwealth reaches into Western Australian regulatory