SENATOR DEAN SMITH
SHADOW ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR COMPETITION, CHARITIES AND TREASURY
SENATOR FOR WESTERN AUSTRALIA
MEDIA RELEASE
3 February 2025
LABOR’S FUTURE MADE IN AUSTRALIA ANOTHER BLOW TO WA’S RESOURCES INDUSTRY
The prosperity of Western Australia’s critical mining and resources sector is again under attack from the Albanese Government.
Labor’s Future Made in Australia policies are creating regulatory uncertainty, driving up costs, and discouraging investment in the sector.
Although buried in Albanese Government rhetoric, the Future Made in Australia (Production Tax Credits and Other Measures) Bill 2024, which has just been the subject of a Senate inquiry, lacks basic detail on how proposed tax credits will be measured, distributed or enforced.
The Coalition section of the inquiry’s report, released last week, confirms how the Bill leaves WA’s economy exposed to risk and excessive red tape—threatening the competitiveness of our state on the global stage.
Blind to the Bill’s total lack of clarity on key issues, and stakeholder concerns about the uncertainty this will create, the Albanese Government appears determined to rush this policy through Parliament prior to the next election.
This is despite the fact the tax credits in the Bill will not come into effect until 2027, that it saddles businesses with compliance costs in every year of the project, and links tax incentives to murkily defined Community Benefit Principles (CBPs).
Treasury officials cannot yet explain how CBPs will be enforced, whether they will require union agreements, or what penalties will be imposed for non-compliance.
The Minerals Council of Australia has warned that CBPs could duplicate existing regulatory burdens, increasing costs and slowing down projects, while the Chamber of Minerals and Energy of WA raised concerns that these provisions provide no clear benefits while adding administrative hurdles.
The Albanese Government is deterring investment in WA at a time when businesses and projects here need stability.
They are under growing threat from Labor on multiple fronts – with its on again off again Nature Positive legislation creating uncertainty and risking the future of WA’s resources sector by wrapping it in red tape without delivering any obvious benefit.
The Albanese Government’s own Resources and Energy Major Projects: 2024 report leaves little doubt about the toll misguided policy is taking on the resources sector, revealing 81 major resource projects—worth $119 billion—are now stalled or at risk, with 47,000 jobs in doubt.
This is more than triple the stalled investment recorded just a year ago.
Instead of supporting economic growth, Labor is making it harder than ever for businesses to invest and create jobs—pushing critical projects offshore at a time when WA—and the rest of Australia—can least afford it.
Comments attributable to Senator Dean Smith:
“The Albanese Government’s Future Made in Australia policy is riddled with complexity and poorly defined obligations that risk increasing regulatory costs, tying businesses up in red tape and—worst of all—deterring investment”.
“Labor is actively fueling uncertainty, pursuing policies that leave businesses with little idea about the compliance measures they will face, what penalties will apply, or how tax credits will be administered.”
“Western Australia is competing with the United States, Canada, and other resource-rich nations that are offering clear and immediate investment incentives—Labor is reducing, rather than increasing, our competitiveness.”
“If Labor were serious about making Australia an investment leader, they would cut regulatory duplication, offer clear guidance on requirement and penalties, and provide incentives that deliver immediate benefits rather than ones that won’t start until 2027.”
ENDS