If there was ever an anticlimactic moment in Australia’s energy and climate policy debate in the past few years, the release of the Albanese government’s long-awaited critical minerals strategy this week would have to take top prize.

With countries around the world racing to achieve energy security and to lessen their reliance on China for key minerals such as lithium, there were big expectations that the strategy would take clear action on exploration and processing to deliver the minerals needed to help reach net zero.