Australian Resources and Energy Group AREEA welcomes the Morrison Government’s release of a 10-year plan to support more jobs and investment in advanced manufacturing, driven by opportunities in the critical minerals sector.

AREEA Chief Executive Steve Knott AM said the Resources Technology and Critical Minerals Processing National Manufacturing Roadmap, released today, will assist local manufacturers to capitalise on the enormous technology opportunities within Australia’s world-class resources and energy sector.

Under the roadmap, employers can apply to the Government’s $1.3 billion Modern Manufacturing Initiative for projects in priority areas, to help manufacturers scale-up production, commercialise products and tap into global supply chains.

“The roadmap provides a strong platform to attract more investment into the critical minerals sector, to support local advanced manufacturing, and most importantly to help create thousands of new STEM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics) related jobs,” Mr Knott said.

“Critical minerals, such as those used in the latest battery and renewable energy technologies, is an area of huge growth potential for Australia.

“Department of Industry data shows there are more than 20 critical minerals projects that are either already committed or advanced in planning, in our major project pipeline. AREEA forecasts these projects will create at least 2700 new jobs in the next five years.

“Further, there are more than 50 additional prospective projects, less advanced in the pipeline, that could see that jobs figure tripled if those opportunities could be converted to committed investment.

“The majority of these new employment opportunities will be in the form of high-quality, highly paid STEM jobs. Collaboration between government and industry in initiatives to attract investment and nurture future STEM skills development, is vital to our success.”

Today’s announcement follows the Department of Industry’s recent release of its new National Resources Workforce Strategy, setting out a blueprint for supporting the industry’s future skilled workforce needs.

“AREEA was pleased to have been involved in the development of the workforce strategy and to identify projects and initiatives that we can work on with the Department in coming months and years, to properly understand and meet our sector’s growing skilled workforce demands,” Mr Knott said.

One such initiative is AREEA’s Bright Future STEM Primary Schools Program, which promotes STEM fields and diverse resources sector careers to schoolchildren aged 9-12.

This week, AREEA also launched a new television campaign, ‘Work with Us’, calling on the nation’s political representatives to “work with” employers as they push to secure new major project investment, create jobs and assist with the national economic recovery.

MEDIA CONTACT: Brad Thompson | 0409 781 580 | [email protected]