Her Excellency Caroline Kennedy, United States Ambassador to Australia addressed the opening session of the 2024 Paydirt Battery Minerals Conference in Perth this morning.
HE told a crowd of WA’s battery and critical minerals leaders that: “President [of the United States Joe] Biden often says it is never a good bet to bet against America, and I’m here to tell you that America is betting on Australia.”
“It is the honour of a lifetime to serve my country abroad, especially here in Australia, our closest friend and ally,” HE Ambassador Kennedy said.
“The centrepiece of President Biden’s foreign policy is to strengthen and modernise our alliances and solve modern challenges together, and I see us doing that together every single day.
“In a time of conflict and division in the world, the US-Australia alliance is something that we should never take for granted – it’s a force for peace, stability and prosperity that has been passed down to us by our parents and grandparents; our brothers and sisters who have fought and sacrificed side-by-side.”
Western Australia has long been at the centre of America and Australia’s defence and economic alliance. In particular, when it comes to co-operation in attracting strategic investment in resources development, space observation and autonomous technology.
In May last year, President Biden and Australian Prime Minister Anthony Albanese declared that the third strategic pillar of the alliance would be climate change and clean energy by signing the climate, critical minerals and clean energy transformation compact, making WA’s role in the alliance even more significant.
“The climate crisis is a global challenge, which requires urgent international action. It is a national security and economic issue for our countries, it is an existential issue in this region and a moral issue for our generation.
“It is also a massive business opportunity, and no two countries are better positioned to benefit than the United States and Australia. It won’t be easy, but we need to create the type of public-private synergy that allows us to succeed.”
HE Ambassador Kennedy said the companies gathered at the Battery Minerals Conference were at the centre of that effort.
“The United States is taking dramatic steps. In 2023, 40 per cent of US power generation was from clean sources, including 20 per cent from solar, wind and hydro. Just last week, the last coal plant in my home region of New England announced it would close in 2028, putting us in reach of ending the use of coal for energy generation by 2030 and reaching net-zero emissions by 2050.”
“Over the last couple of years, the US has passed three landmark pieces of legislation to accelerate the global transition to a clean energy future. Taken together over the next 10 years, these laws will invest and incentivise an estimated $1.5 trillion into research and development, clean energy, electric vehicles, and infrastructure and supply chain security.
“Perhaps most relevant to this audience, the Inflation Reduction Act incentivises the use of critical minerals from countries such as Australia, who have a Free Trade Agreement with the United States.”
The Inflation Reduction Acts has already stimulated more than $5 billion of US investment into Australian companies, while US automakers have secured more than $19 billion in off-take agreements in Australia.
In December, in addition to passing the landmark AUKUS legislation, the US congress declared Australian companies eligible for Defence Department funding on the same basis as their US counterparts under the existing Defence Production Act.
HE Ambassador Kennedy said the United States was mobilising a whole-of-government approach to securing critical mineral supply chains from trusted vendors, like Australia.
She said Australian Commonwealth Minister for Resources and Northern Australia Madeleine King was a tireless advocate for international standards that protect the health and safety of workers and the environment, rather than allow unchecked exploitation by state-owned Chinese companies in Indonesia and elsewhere.
“We can’t let vulnerable communities be destroyed along with markets for Australian minerals under the guise of economic development.
“The commodities you manage are not only the basis for our economies, but our future national security and the health of our planet depends on them as well – and they are under assault.
“Fortunately, we are mobilising our political and economic systems to meet this challenge.”
The conference will be held in Perth next week from 16 – 17 April at the Pan Pacific Perth.
The full programme is available here
For registration inquiries contact Georgia Tully at georgia@paydirt.com.au.
