Miners are “under siege” from a steady stream of restrictive policy interventions, Minerals Council of Australia chief executive Tania Constable told investors, politicians and diplomats at an industry dinner on Monday.

“The environmental approvals process must be sorted out,” she told Prime Minister Anthony Albanese.

The industry spokeswoman slammed what she described as a series of “reckless” industrial relations changes, royalty “raids” by state governments, complex regulatory changes, and the looming threat of onerous and arbitrary environmental approvals.

“Any attack on the Pilbara is an attack on the entire mining sector, just like an attack on Queensland coal revenues is an attack on the entire mining sector,” she said.

She said Australia has had workplace regulations that have consistently improved wages and productivity, while keeping workers safe.

“We need the government to explain why it is so determined to tear up successful workplace arrangements and drag us back to the failed ways of the past,” she said.

Mines are being mothballed even as Mr Albanese calls for a future made in Australia with battery minerals and clean energy at its heart.

The resources industry was “front and centre” in the government’s plan for Australia to make the most of net-zero growth, he told the Minerals Week dinner.

“The global imperative to cut emissions is Australia’s opportunity to grow our economy – and diversify it. That’s what I mean when I talk about a future made in Australia,” he said.

Anthony Albanese and Minerals Council of Australia CEO Tania Constable
Anthony Albanese greets Minerals Council CEO Tania Constable at the parliamentary dinner. (Lukas Coch/AAP PHOTOS)
Government would be “a catalyst for new investment in critical minerals at every stage” as the nation built new industrial centres powered by clean energy, he said.

But according to the resources industry, with energy demand expected to double by 2050, all technologies – including nuclear – will be required to meet future energy needs.

The Minerals Council released a plan to support the resource-intensive future, saying there will be no downstream processing or moving up the value chain if barriers to investment continue.

Mr Albanese said companies and communities were no longer acting in the absence of government leadership or in spite of government policy.

“Instead, business, workers and every level of government are working together … bringing together resources, energy and manufacturing to secure the economic future of their communities,” he said.

“The shift to clean energy is not a theory, or a distant future prospect. It’s happening, right now.

“The resources industry is helping drive it,” he said, fronting a critical audience.

Yet lithium mines have been mothballed with prices at three-year lows, nickel operations have been suspended amid a market glut for the battery mineral.

The opposition has slammed proposed production tax breaks for hydrogen and critical minerals as “corporate welfare” and “billions for billionaires”.

But Mr Albanese said “that tough talk tends to drop off as they get closer to workplaces, mines, processing plants and ports”.

With opinion polls on a knife-edge as Mr Albanese and his travelling cabinet woo the sector, he insisted the government was “clear about where we stand – whichever part of the country we are in, we are proud to be investing in jobs in the regions”.

“We know tax credits built on rewarding success, in areas crucial to our comparative advantage and economic resilience, serve the national interest,” he said.

“This is about attracting private capital, not replacing it.”

Creating new jobs in mining, processing and refining, technology and manufacturing will make the most of a unique combination of national strengths – “our sunlight, our skilled workers and our space”, he said.