Undermining Australia

It takes more than 25 minerals to build the phone in your pocket, but few ever pause to wonder how it’s made.It is true of so much of modern life. Our largely urban society is so disconnected from its sources of wealth, food, and energy that many are now actively voting against them. The Minerals Council of Australia is trying to turn perceptions around, but it is pushing against a wall of ignorance and regulation and a political and media class that treats mining and energy as an embarrassment.Tania Constable, the Council’s CEO, sees the gap widening. In a conversation for Power Lines, she laid out the challenges facing the industry that still underwrites Australia's prosperity — and warned of the consequences if the disconnect continues.Mining is, by far, the largest contributor to Australia’s export wealth, bringing in $330 billion last year from minerals alone. It pays $77 billion in company tax and royalties and employs over a million Australians both directly and across its supply chains. Yet as Constable points out, this engine of prosperity is often painted as an enemy of progress."If you look at a phone, a fridge, a car, a microphone — everything we use relies on mining. Every single person needs the minerals industry."Energy is where the contradictions multiply. Australia is already an energy superpower in coal, gas, and critical minerals. Yet policy settings on the east coast are driving up costs, blocking new supply, and creating sovereign risk for our allies. Japan and South Korea, once unshakeable trading partners, are now looking elsewhere for stable, long-term energy contracts. Meanwhile, Victoria and New South Wales are preparing to build gas import terminals because they refused to develop the reserves under their own feet.“It’s absolute madness. We’re going to pay the international price for gas that we already have sitting there.”The plan to transform Australia into a "renewables superpower" sounds great. But it is built on layers of fantasy. As Constable notes, to meet the pledged targets would require an explosion of mining activity — copper, lithium, rare earths — on a scale the current approval system simply cannot deliver. It takes, on average, 18 years to bring a new mine into production. Even if political will existed, the clock is not on our side.And then there is nuclear. Australia's refusal to even consider nuclear energy for domestic use, while embracing nuclear submarines for defence, is a triumph of ideology over reason.“The excuses are running out. There is no reason why we can’t tap into nuclear power as part of our overall approach.”What would fix it? Getting the basics right: an industrial relations system that works, energy prices that are globally competitive, streamlined environmental approvals, and tax settings that encourage investment instead of scaring it away.“We know what we need to do. We just need governments that are willing to back the industries that create wealth for the country.”Energy realism demands hard conversations about where our power comes from, how it is priced, and who benefits when we choose slogans over substance. Political leadership means having tough conversations, not fanning prejudice.Australia has a choice: use its abundant resources, or become a textbook case in how to squander a natural advantage — an energy superpower that chose to unplug itself. This is a public episode. If you would like to discuss this with other subscribers or get access to bonus episodes, visit www.powerlines.au