Federal Minister for Resources Madeleine King was forthright in her social assessment of the Australian resources sector when she provided the ministerial keynote on day two of the International Mining and Resources Conference (IMARC).
“As I travel around the country, I’ve been giving the same message over and over to leaders in the resources industry: You need to find ways to tell your stories better so that more Australians understand the role the sector will have in achieving net-zero,” she said.
“The road to net-zero emissions runs through the resources sector and all of you here needs to ensure that this message cuts through. If you do not, developing much-needed new resources will only get harder and the nation and the world as a whole will suffer.”
King further elaborated on her concerns for the resources sector’s social reputation in a doorstop following her keynote, detailing examples as to where the industry is falling short.
“The whole resources sector needs to work really hard at telling its story around reputation, and there are reputation issues on many factors,” she told reporters.
The Australian resources sector continues to navigate a skilled labour crisis, while future prospects are also concerning. The industry will conservatively require an additional 24,000 workers by the end of 2027, according to modelling released by the Australian Resources and Energy Employer Association (AREEA) in July.
The AREEA’s ‘Resources and Energy Workforce Forecast: 2022-2027’ report breaks down the estimated labour required to operate new, expansion and restarted mining and oil and gas projects expected to enter production by December 2027.
The third annual edition in this series lists 107 projects as being either committed or advanced in feasibility and considered likely to proceed within the five-year period.
AREEA chief executive Steve Knott said the industry would struggle to fulfil this new workforce demand without “creative solutions and a coordinated response”.
“While we will always celebrate the strength of the industry and the jobs and other benefits that come with increased project investment, given the significant skills shortages at present, many would look to these new workforce projections with some trepidation,” he said.
“Our industry is battling the worst skills crisis in a generation. This is threatening the continuity of existing operations, resulting in temporary or permanent production downgrades, and driving other workforce issues including historic levels of staff turnover.”
King emphasised the importance of skilled migration in helping to plug the labour gap.
“The resources industry accounts for the second-highest number of workers in Western Australia and a very high number of workers right across the country,” she said.
“There are skills and worker gaps in every industry, whether it’s mining and the indirect services that support mining. Skilled migration, even unskilled migration, will be part of that.
“But the important thing is that it is managed well and that migrants have a path to citizenship because that’s the right thing to do.”