House of Representatives Standing Committee on Primary Industries Inquiry into factors shaping social licence and economic development outcomes in critical minerals projects across Australia
Australian Parliament House, 14 May 2026
When people talk about mining and social licence, the conversation often begins at the mine gate: land use, environmental performance, community engagement, cultural heritage, jobs and local benefits.
These issues are critically important, and rightly so.
But in 2026, social licence in mining has become something bigger.
It is no longer just about whether a local community accepts a project. It is also about whether Australians understand the role this industry plays in keeping the nation running, particularly in times of disruption and uncertainty.
We have seen this repeatedly in recent years.
During the COVID-19 pandemic, when global supply chains broke down, mining continued to operate and helped sustain the national economy.
After Russia's invasion of Ukraine, disruptions to global energy and fertiliser markets reinforced the importance of secure supply.
And today, rising geopolitical tensions are underlining the value of trusted, reliable sources of energy and critical minerals.
In each of these moments, one fact has become clear: mining is one of the industries that keeps Australia running in a crisis.
It underpins energy systems, industrial capability, food production and our role as a trusted supplier to strategic partners.
Our submission notes that based on ABS census data across the Australian Mining cities Alliance regions of Mount Isa and Isaac, Broken Hill and Karratha, East Pilbara and Kalgoorlie Boulder, the unemployment rate of 3.58 percent is lower than the Australian average rate of 5.1 per cent while median income is 80 percent higher than the rest of Australia.
In 2023-24 the minerals and energy sector paid $35.4 billion in wages to Australian workers, bought goods and services from 60,000 local businesses, contributed $661 million to almost 6000 community organisations, from local sporting clubs to health services to cultural programs and paid $519 million to local governments in rates and infrastructure charges.
No other sector comes close to matching these contributions.
But there is a harder truth we need to confront.
Recognising the importance of mining is not the same as delivering mining projects.
Australia can have world-class resources, strong environmental standards and broad community support, but if projects cannot move from proposal to production in a timely and predictable way those advantages are lost.
Investment will not wait.
Capital is globally mobile.
And countries that can approve and build major projects faster, while maintaining high standards, are increasingly where that investment is going.
Bringing projects to reality requires more than support in principle. It requires systems that work in practice.
That means:
- Clear and consistent regulatory frameworks with a focus on timely and efficient approval processes
- Policy stability that gives investors confidence over the long term.
What industry is seeking is not lower standards.
Global capital makes decisions based on delivery, not intent.
Mining investment does not sit still. It moves across borders, across jurisdictions, and across projects, toward places where timelines and outcomes are clear.
And the data shows how sensitive that is to approvals.
In Australia, it now takes on average around 17 years to bring a mine from discovery to production, with most of that time spent before construction even begins.
Permitting and approvals are a central driver of that delay, contributing to almost half of all project hold-ups.
And those delays are not theoretical in their impact.
According to a report by Nous Group, for a large mining project, every week of delay can reduce project value by around AUD$7million.
That is how investors think about time.
Not as process, but as loss.
An additional year delay in the new project pipeline is estimated to cost the Australian economy $3.2 billion in GDP each year.
That's why the Government's announcements on the Investor Front Door and use of AI in the environmental assessments and approvals process are so important. They will help get more mines on the ground faster.
In other jurisdictions, reforms have brought time frames down dramatically, attracting tens of billions of dollars in new investment as a result.
The difference is not geology.
It is the ability to move from decision to delivery.
And investors respond accordingly.
Where timelines are uncertain, capital pricing rises, projects stall, and in many cases investment shifts elsewhere.
That's the practical reality of competing for global investment.
There are 411 minerals projects on the Department of Industry's major project list and only 63 are currently committed.
So when we talk about certainty, timeliness and accountability, we are not talking about process preferences.
We are talking about whether projects happen at all.
The minerals opportunity for this country is generational and the communities I have mentioned want more investment, because family futures depend on it.
Accordingly, our submission makes six practical recommendations:
- Coordinated and timely approvals
- A native title framework that properly resources Traditional owner organisations
- Workforce and training settings aligned to project timelines
- Capability programs that grow Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander enterprises
- Infrastructure investment that opens minerals provinces to economic opportunity
- And future made in Australia implementation that ensures community benefit flows to the businesses and people on the ground in those communities.
Because mining is not simply an export industry: it is a strategic industry.
Mining creates, drives and sustains national resilience. But it will only play that role if projects can be delivered.
