Latest / 360 with Katie Woolf / CE Minerals Council Aus NT Cat Tilmouth on the need for urgent action to secure benefits of mining investment

Transcript

CE Minerals Council Aus NT Cat Tilmouth on the need for urgent action to secure benefits of mining investment · 360 with Katie Woolf

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  Speaker 1: You are listening to Mix 1049's 360. Now, as I
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  Speaker 1: mentioned a short time ago, we know the Northern Territory
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  Speaker 1: has $ 6. 2 billion in planned mining investment, but industry leaders
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  Speaker 1: say that urgent action is needed to secure the benefits.
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  Speaker 1: A new Minerals Council of Australia report identifies 16 advanced
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  Speaker 1: projects with the potential to create 3,200 construction jobs and
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  Speaker 1: 2,800 ongoing roles. Industry is calling, though, for investment in
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  Speaker 1: skills and infrastructure, along with faster approvals and less red tape,
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  Speaker 1: warning the Northern Territory must act now to compete globally.
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  Speaker 1: Kat Tillmouth, I should say, from the Minerals Council of Australia,
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  Speaker 1: joins me on the line. Good morning, Kat.
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  Speaker 2: Good morning, Katie.
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  Speaker 1: Kat, tell me, why was this report commissioned?
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  Speaker 2: So what we needed to do and hadn't done for
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  Speaker 2: quite some time is get a bit of a baseline
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  Speaker 2: understanding of of what the minerals industry means to the
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  Speaker 2: Northern Territory. Now, usually when you're talking about mining, you go, oh,
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  Speaker 2: the royalties. It's the royalties that are paid to TOs.
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  Speaker 2: It's the royalties that are paid to government. But what
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  Speaker 2: this did was we had a look at how much
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  Speaker 2: other economic contribution goes out into the broader community. So
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  Speaker 2: we're able to figure out that all of that spending,
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  Speaker 2: that it goes into contracts, it goes into local workforce,
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  Speaker 2: you know, a guy finishing his shift and going to
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  Speaker 2: buy something at the shop down the street. all of
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  Speaker 2: that adds up. So one of the biggest things we
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  Speaker 2: found was, you know, one job in mining supports three
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  Speaker 2: in the broader sector and six in the local economy.
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  Speaker 2: And we really needed that sort of information and data
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  Speaker 2: to give us evidence-based policy afterwards. So not just making
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  Speaker 2: assumptions that everyone that works in the territory is FISO
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  Speaker 2: or that it's, you know, X amount of dollars, but
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  Speaker 2: not having the facts and figures and evidence behind it.
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  Speaker 1: What were some of the other more important findings?
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  Speaker 2: Look, it's really down to the businesses that we support
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  Speaker 2: in the Northern Territory through mining. So there was, I think, oh,
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  Speaker 2: it's a pop quiz for you now, 859 Territory businesses
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  Speaker 2: that had about $ 617 million purchased through them in goods
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  Speaker 2: and services in 24 and 25 years. And it's like
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  Speaker 2: the direct spend that goes into the local community. So
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  Speaker 2: it's about $ 4. 6 billion in economic value. So those numbers
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  Speaker 2: are good now, but you need to know what they
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  Speaker 2: are to know if you grow in the future. And
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  Speaker 2: that's what we're really wanting to do. We know critical minerals,
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  Speaker 2: it's all a big thing. It's the iPhones, it's the
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  Speaker 2: electric vehicles, it's all of that. We've got them in
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  Speaker 2: the territory. We want to make the most of that
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  Speaker 2: opportunity and we need to know what we need to
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  Speaker 2: do to do that.
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  Speaker 1: And so Kat, what do we need to do to
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  Speaker 1: be able to do that, to make sure that we
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  Speaker 1: turn this $ 6. 2 billion mining pipeline into jobs and a
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  Speaker 1: boost to the economy?
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  Speaker 2: Well, one thing we do know is that the window
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  Speaker 2: of opportunity is only a window. So we need to
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  Speaker 2: be able to meet the demands when they're there. So
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  Speaker 2: get things turned over quickly. It takes about 16 years
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  Speaker 2: on average for a project to get from discovery all
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  Speaker 2: the way through to operation. So we're not a fast
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  Speaker 2: moving industry. We'll get there in the end. But what
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  Speaker 2: we need to do is make sure we've got the
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  Speaker 2: workers that can work there. that we've got the infrastructure
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  Speaker 2: that can get the product from the mine to the
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  Speaker 2: port to overseas or wherever it needs to go. And
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  Speaker 2: we need to be able to support the workers that
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  Speaker 2: are wanting to move to the territory to work in
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  Speaker 2: the mine. So you need that livability. You need the
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  Speaker 2: health services, the schools, everything else that wraps around if
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  Speaker 2: you want to take opportunities, the opportunities that come with
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  Speaker 2: a growing industry.
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  Speaker 1: And I know it's been mentioned that the concerns around
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  Speaker 1: red tape and approval delays, is there further changes that
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  Speaker 1: need to happen in the Territory to really make sure
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  Speaker 1: that that doesn't hold us back?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, look, we're really fortunate that the government, when they've
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  Speaker 2: been introducing a lot of the environmental legislation, really have
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  Speaker 2: a don't set and forget kind of mentality. They're open
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  Speaker 2: to reviewing, making sure that things are going through, making
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  Speaker 2: sure That we actually get the benefits that we need
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  Speaker 2: and we're not arbitrarily making up a policy or having
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  Speaker 2: some sort of legislation that stops things from progressing ahead. So,
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  Speaker 2: you know, keeping an eye on those sorts of things,
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  Speaker 2: making sure that you've got the people within the government
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  Speaker 2: that you've got the capacity to process things. all of
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  Speaker 2: the applications and make sure that we're growing the specialist
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  Speaker 2: skill set that you need in the Northern Territory to
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  Speaker 2: perform some of these jobs. So a lot of technical
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  Speaker 2: people are needed, not only just to operate in the mines,
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  Speaker 2: but also to assess them as well.
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  Speaker 1: So Kat, what do you think needs to, like as
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  Speaker 1: a result of this report and, you know, knowing what
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  Speaker 1: you know in terms of the different projects that that
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  Speaker 1: could get going in the Territory. What needs to happen
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  Speaker 1: fairly immediately, do you think, with the findings in this
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  Speaker 1: report to really ensure that we don't miss the boat?
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  Speaker 2: Well, one thing we've been able to do pretty much
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  Speaker 2: halfway through this project, and we're very thankful for the
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  Speaker 2: partnership of NT Government and CDU to do that, is
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  Speaker 2: the VET program that I've talked to you about, that's
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  Speaker 2: mining cadets. So that's getting the kids early. So by
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  Speaker 2: the time some of these projects are off the ground,
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  Speaker 2: we'll have people that want to do it. But the
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  Speaker 2: other thing we're able to do is find... what sorts
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  Speaker 2: of jobs and what sort of age groups are kind
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  Speaker 2: of like not sticky. So they don't already have a
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  Speaker 2: well-established network down south. They're more mobile, willing to move
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  Speaker 2: with their families. So that younger 35-year-old kind of cohort,
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  Speaker 2: target those people and those sort of occupations that they've
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  Speaker 2: got and try and make some policies or something that's
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  Speaker 2: attractive for them to move to the territory. Because not
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  Speaker 2: only do they work in the mines, but they build
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  Speaker 2: up the local community around them.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Kat Tillmouth, it's always good to catch up with
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  Speaker 1: you and always good to get a bit of an
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  Speaker 1: understanding on how things are tracking when it comes to,
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  Speaker 1: you know, minerals and mining in the Territory. Has there
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  Speaker 1: been much movement, you know, since we last caught up
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  Speaker 1: on some of those big projects that we've spoken about
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  Speaker 1: in the past?
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  Speaker 2: Yeah, I think we spoke about Arafura since I spoke
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  Speaker 2: to you about Arafura. I think the next week, actually,
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  Speaker 2: we had KGL reach their financial investment decision. So that's
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  Speaker 2: a really important copper project that's happening down near Alice
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  Speaker 2: Springs as well.
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  Speaker 1: So.
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  Speaker 2: Seems to be a big year in 2026 for mining.
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  Speaker 1: Well, and yeah, we'll wait and see. But I know that,
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  Speaker 1: you know, it does mean that there are going to
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  Speaker 1: be additional jobs. Obviously, you touched on it before as
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  Speaker 1: well in terms of the FIFO. I guess that that
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  Speaker 1: is a bit of a misconception. But do we find
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  Speaker 1: that a lot of the workers in the territory actually
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  Speaker 1: stay living in the territory?
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  Speaker 2: Look, there's a lot of people that are very much
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  Speaker 2: attracted to You know, you've got that swing lifestyle and
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  Speaker 2: so you may be fifoing out to a remote area
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  Speaker 2: like MacArthur of the Mine, but they definitely love to
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  Speaker 2: come back to Darwin and their surroundings and spend their
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  Speaker 2: week off fishing and things like that. So we definitely
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  Speaker 2: have a really good lifestyle to sell to people that
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  Speaker 2: want to do the jobs in the Territory.
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  Speaker 1: Well, Kat Tillmouth, the Chief Executive of the Minerals Council
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  Speaker 1: of Australia's Northern Territory Branch, always good to catch up
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  Speaker 1: with you. Thank you very much for your time this morning.
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  Speaker 2: You too, Katie.
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  Speaker 1: Thank you. Thank you.