Chairman of the Minerals Council warns: Government reforms put Australia's raw materials supply in a “precarious situation”

Anthony Albanese received a frosty reception at the mining industry's high-level annual parliamentary dinner. Minerals Council chair Tania Constable warned the Prime Minister that his industrial relations laws were already causing conflict “in every workplace in every industry”.

Speaking on Monday night alongside Mr Albanese, who warned miners that they would no longer benefit from the transition to carbon neutrality if they engaged in conflict rather than cooperation, Ms Constable said the industry was in a precarious position.

“Reckless” federal government labor relations reforms, state “license raids,” “burdensome” looming environmental regulations and high energy costs threatened to jeopardize the country's future prosperity and undermine existing copper, gold, uranium, coal and iron ore mining operations, she said.

“The cumulative effect has profound implications for the viability of projects, the risk appetite in developing future projects and the ability to attract investment,” Ms Constable said.

“Every new regulation, every new tax, every additional layer of complexity and every arbitrary decision makes it more difficult for us to compete against competitors who are not subject to such restrictions.”

Tensions between mining industry and government

The heated exchange between the mining industry's umbrella organisation and Mr Albanese is exacerbating tensions with the government.

Resources Minister Madeleine King last month accused BHP of “always” railing against Labor Party policies and refusing to work with union leadership.

Mr Albanese defended his government's support for the mining industry, including planned tax breaks for the critical minerals industry, which the Coalition intends to resist.

“I have heard some in Parliament refer to this as 'corporate welfare' or 'billions for billionaires',” he said at the dinner, which was also attended by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton.

“These harsh words tend to fade as they get closer to the workplaces, mines, processing plants and ports.”

“Tax credits based on rewarding success in areas critical to our comparative advantage and economic resilience serve the national interest.”

Ms Constable played down the Prime Minister's tax cuts, saying: “All the incentives in the world, all the expressions of support, are useless if the fundamentals are not right.”

“We need an explanation from the government why it is so determined to destroy successful working arrangements and return us to the failed methods of the past,” she said.

“We want cooperation. We don’t want conflict.”

“But these new labor laws are forcing conflict upon us. That is an intentional design feature of these laws.”

“Conflicts arise in every workplace, in every industry, and together we will not shy away from denouncing them.

“Any attack on the Pilbara is an attack on the entire mining sector.

“Just as an attack on Queensland's coal revenues is an attack on the entire mining sector.”

Ms Constable warned that Australia could not afford a misstep as the federal budget depends on taxes and royalties from the mining industry, which would total $74 billion in 2022-23.

“That’s more than any other industry and 40 percent higher than banks,” she said.

“Undermine it at your own peril.”