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Katie Woolf spoke with Minerals Council Executive Director Drew Wagner · 360 with Katie Woolf

• 0:00
  Speaker 1: We know that mining is something that we talk about
• 0:02
  Speaker 1: quite a bit, and the approvals processes when it comes
• 0:05
  Speaker 1: to mining is something that's been.
• 0:07
  Speaker 2: Up for discussion for quite some time.
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  Speaker 1: But the territory government yesterday said that the Northern Territory
• 0:13
  Speaker 1: has generated four point four billion dollars in mineral production
• 0:17
  Speaker 1: during the last financial year.
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  Speaker 2: That's despite COVID.
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  Speaker 1: Joining me online to talk more about this from the
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  Speaker 1: Minerals Council, the executive director, Drew Wagner, Good morning, Drew,
• 0:28
  Speaker 1: Good morning, Cody, good to chat with you.
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  Speaker 2: Drew.
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  Speaker 1: Four point four billion dollars in mineral production during the
• 0:34
  Speaker 1: last financial year.
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  Speaker 2: How does that compare to other years?
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  Speaker 3: It is slightly down from the previous years. The previous
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  Speaker 3: year we saw a high of four point six. It
• 0:45
  Speaker 3: is testament to the activities and the efforts that all
• 0:49
  Speaker 3: of our operational minds have gone to, particularly in the
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  Speaker 3: back half of that financial year with the restrictions we
• 0:54
  Speaker 3: had on our resource and our staffing movement that they're
• 0:58
  Speaker 3: able to still could keep their production systems in place.
• 1:00
  Speaker 3: But it's still up there, but not quite the highest.
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  Speaker 3: And the continued growth through I hopeing to see if
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  Speaker 3: we hadn't been hit by that think small thing called COVID.
• 1:08
  Speaker 1: Yeah, I reckon it's had such an impact on so
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  Speaker 1: many different industries, and the mining and mineral sector is
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  Speaker 1: no exception, is it.
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  Speaker 3: It is no acception. The impact has not been as
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  Speaker 3: we've seen in the overall production to only have dropped
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  Speaker 3: such a small percentage and we're talking low single digits
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  Speaker 3: here from the previous year. As I said, it is
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  Speaker 3: testimony to the efforts that all of our operational sites
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  Speaker 3: went to the Chief Health officers signed protocols that they
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  Speaker 3: actually had put in place very early on, obviously in
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  Speaker 3: the first quarter of this year, so the back half
• 1:43
  Speaker 3: of this financial year. But the ability for them to
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  Speaker 3: continue to keep doing what they're doing, their ability to
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  Speaker 3: keep producing as what's actually held up the NT economy
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  Speaker 3: and put it in its current position, and we can,
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  Speaker 3: I hope for opportunities of expansion moving forward from here.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Drew, I guess it shows as well that the
• 1:58
  Speaker 1: mining industry and mineral sector is you know, it's an
• 2:02
  Speaker 1: industry and sector that does a lot in terms of employment, exports,
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  Speaker 1: jobs for the Northern Territory. How are things tracking more generally?
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  Speaker 1: You and I have spoken on so many occasions about
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  Speaker 1: approvals processes and times.
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  Speaker 2: How are things tracking.
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  Speaker 3: I think they're actually tracking pretty well, Katie. Know, it's
• 2:24
  Speaker 3: very difficult val sort of two thirds of the way
• 2:26
  Speaker 3: through the first one hundred days of a new government.
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  Speaker 3: We heard certainly not a lot leading up to the
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  Speaker 3: election in regards to where the policies are going to sit.
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  Speaker 3: We've certainly heard a lot coming out of the Reconstruction Commission.
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  Speaker 3: We've certainly heard a lot of the right noises being
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  Speaker 3: made by the new government, and indeed the new Minister
• 2:44
  Speaker 3: and definitely Chief Minesson Nicole Madison now being labeled as
• 2:49
  Speaker 3: the Minister for Minds as well, which is the first
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  Speaker 3: time in a very long time we've actually had that
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  Speaker 3: label on a cabinet minister. We're hearing the right signals
• 2:57
  Speaker 3: and the right messages. It's now time moved past the
• 3:00
  Speaker 3: fact that the machinery of government has yet to be finished.
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  Speaker 3: It's now time to move past the fact we've all
• 3:06
  Speaker 3: got our boots under the desk and found out what
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  Speaker 3: our new task is. It's now that we start seeing
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  Speaker 3: some rubber hit the road and start seeing the transition
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  Speaker 3: from some of those concerns that you and I have
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  Speaker 3: spoken of so many times in the past.
• 3:17
  Speaker 1: Andrew was the industry please, So when Minister Madison was
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  Speaker 1: announced as the Mind's Minister.
• 3:23
  Speaker 3: Oh, without a doubt. I mean it's obviously we had
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  Speaker 3: a very strong and positive relationship with the honor of
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  Speaker 3: Paul Kirby as our previous Minister for Prime Industries and Resources.
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  Speaker 3: But to have the Deputy Chief Minister for the second
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  Speaker 3: highest position in cabinet identified as the Minister for Minds,
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  Speaker 3: it is just amazing her capacity and knowledge that she's
• 3:45
  Speaker 3: bought not only a parliamentary and cabinet process, but also
• 3:48
  Speaker 3: as Treasurer and across a number of senior portfolios in
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  Speaker 3: the past. And we all know Nicole's excitement in regards
• 3:55
  Speaker 3: to a challenge that she's seeing very much for the
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  Speaker 3: mineral sectors is setting for her at the moment to
• 4:00
  Speaker 3: be able to grow. He's sitting for her at the
• 4:02
  Speaker 3: moment to be able to have a growth of rural
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  Speaker 3: and regional jobs, of skills and training and economic development
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  Speaker 3: and good strong on ground outcomes on behalf of all territory.
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  Speaker 3: So yeah, I think it's very much a man which
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  Speaker 3: is quite excited about.
• 4:16
  Speaker 1: Well, I've got to say, you know, obviously I can
• 4:17
  Speaker 1: be quite critical of the government when I feel as
• 4:19
  Speaker 1: though they're not stepping up in different areas, but it
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  Speaker 1: does seem as though they've really kind of looked to
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  Speaker 1: the mining and mineral sector. And you know, I don't know,
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  Speaker 1: I don't know whether it was intentional previously, but it
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  Speaker 1: seems as though they're really looking to you guys now
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  Speaker 1: to drive things along well.
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  Speaker 3: I think it is in recognition, as we mentioned earlier,
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  Speaker 3: in regards to what we've been able to do during
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  Speaker 3: the last the last nine months or so. It is
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  Speaker 3: in recognition of the potential that we've currently got. As
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  Speaker 3: I said to Mattie last week, you know, less than
• 4:51
  Speaker 3: one percent of the investment profile Australia wide came to
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  Speaker 3: the territory during the last mining boom. We can't afford
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  Speaker 3: that to happen again. We've got a dozen or fourteen
• 5:02
  Speaker 3: projects ready to start recruiting, ready to start production, ready
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  Speaker 3: to start growth, ready to start investment and ready to
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  Speaker 3: start jobs. We need to take advantage of them as
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  Speaker 3: a territory. When you can't lose sight of the fact
• 5:14
  Speaker 3: that only the last nine months it's been difficult. Our
• 5:16
  Speaker 3: economy was not in a great position for that. But
• 5:19
  Speaker 3: COVID has given us the ability to flick that switch.
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  Speaker 3: It's given us the ability to look through a different lens.
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  Speaker 3: It's given us the ability to have a different narrative,
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  Speaker 3: and mining is certainly now being seen as the driver
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  Speaker 3: of that narrative moving forward.
• 5:32
  Speaker 1: Well, Drew, it's all sounding a little bit more positive
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  Speaker 1: than what it had sort of, you know, eighteen months
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  Speaker 1: two years ago, which is funny, I guess, or quite
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  Speaker 1: ironic given the fact that that COVID has had such
• 5:43
  Speaker 1: an impact on so many industries in so many ways.
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  Speaker 1: But you know, it is sounding like it's going to
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  Speaker 1: be a positive thing for the mining industry. Hopefully we're
• 5:53
  Speaker 1: going to see some more positive steps in the near future.
• 5:57
  Speaker 3: Oh with that a doubt, Katie, I think we can.
• 5:59
  Speaker 3: You and I can be classes the rhetoric that was
• 6:02
  Speaker 3: a couple of years before everyone else. As I said,
• 6:06
  Speaker 3: it's the language has changed, that the focus has changed.
• 6:09
  Speaker 3: We now just need to see some of those results started.
• 6:12
  Speaker 1: In their own Well, mate, I reckon that you and
• 6:14
  Speaker 1: I have been talking about some of this stuff. Like
• 6:16
  Speaker 1: two years ago. We'd reached the point where we were
• 6:18
  Speaker 1: over talking about it.
• 6:19
  Speaker 2: We were ready to see some things change.
• 6:22
  Speaker 3: It's a little bit a doubt, and it's the same
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  Speaker 3: case studies and the same concerns and the same weights
• 6:28
  Speaker 3: and the same measures. It's going to be nice to
• 6:31
  Speaker 3: start talking about some new announcements. Will be nice to
• 6:34
  Speaker 3: start talking about some new developments. It'd certainly be nice
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  Speaker 3: to start talking about some new operations starting up. I
• 6:40
  Speaker 3: hope that it'll come in the not too just in future.
• 6:41
  Speaker 1: Absolutely, And of course, you know, whenever we talk about
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  Speaker 1: these things, we know as well that there are stringent
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  Speaker 1: environmental concerns and procedures that need to be followed through.
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  Speaker 1: So nobody is suggesting in any way that any of
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  Speaker 1: those be skipped over or not adhered to.
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  Speaker 2: But it is about trying to get things moving along.
• 7:01
  Speaker 3: Oh, we would never wish to reduce the validity of
• 7:05
  Speaker 3: that process by one iota. The reality is that we
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  Speaker 3: are territorians, and many of us live here ourselves, many
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  Speaker 3: of us operate here ourselves. We're in some of we're
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  Speaker 3: in God's country. We all know that that's why we
• 7:17
  Speaker 3: are territorians. We would never wish to have that greater
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  Speaker 3: impacts on the location we're in, but we would always
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  Speaker 3: look for the efficiencies when in that process, we would
• 7:26
  Speaker 3: always look at what that process can do in regards
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  Speaker 3: to even the single touch between Commonwealth and territory legislation
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  Speaker 3: as well, which is something that we're working on at
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  Speaker 3: the moment after some reviews being done at the federal levels.
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  Speaker 3: So reducing those timeframes, providing certainly for investors, providing a
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  Speaker 3: timeframe upon which that we can all get behind is
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  Speaker 3: something that we're all trying to drive at this point
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  Speaker 3: in time.
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  Speaker 2: Yeah.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Drew Wagner of course, the executive director of the
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  Speaker 1: Minerals Council of Australia's Northern Territory Division.
• 7:56
  Speaker 2: Always good to speak with you. Thanks for your time today.
• 7:59
  Speaker 3: Absolute pleasure. Thanks, thank you.