The political party of the environmental movement wants to establish a mining company to extract key ingredients used in the manufacture of electric vehicle batteries, with 100 per cent of profits to be returned to Queensland.
The Greens political party has announced plans to create a publicly-owned mining company, to supply critical minerals to the battery industry.
According to a statement released by the Queensland arm of The Greens, the state “could be on the verge of the next mining boom”, with minerals being key to renewable energy and zero carbon technology.
With an initial investment of $4 billion, the company, to be called Queensland Minerals, will return 100 per cent of profits to the state – reportedly creating $14 billion in public revenue from 2030.
It claims the venture will create up to 1000 mining jobs – with priority given to former coal and gas workers.
The statement also criticises both the major political parties and the mining industry for delivering just 3 per cent of oil and gas revenue to the Australian public over the past decade – while using Norway as an example, which reportedly captured 55 per cent of revenue in the form of taxes, royalties, and profits through a publicly-owned oil company.
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It also claims 10 of the biggest mining companies in Queensland pay $0 in corporate tax.
However, national policies set by The Greens provide a strict doctrine on mining practices, excluding mining in “residential areas; highly valued agricultural land; terrestrial and marine nature conservation reserves; national parks; designated wilderness areas, sacred or culturally significant sites; and other areas of nature conservation value”.
According to the Queensland Greens, there is an estimated $500 billion of critical minerals in the North West Minerals Province “critical to decarbonising the global economy”, consisting of zinc, copper, cobalt, gold, silver, and lead, among others.
In October 2023, Japanese government ministers began lobbying Australian officials to directly source battery minerals and rare earths for electric cars, in the hope of side-stepping China.
Australian mining companies have also been in talks with representatives from South Korea, as well as those from Tesla.
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