Election 2025: Peter Dutton withholds backing for critical minerals reserve

Peter Dutton has refused back Anthony Albanese’s plan to create a strategic reserve for critical minerals and rare earths.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton in Hobart on Thursday. Picture: Richard Dobson / Newswire

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Peter Dutton has refused to support Anthony Albanese’s plan to create a strategic reserve for critical minerals and rare earths, declaring instead that the Coalition has better policies to bolster a ­sector that is increasingly critical for the global economy.

The Opposition Leader said Labor’s plan to create a national stockpile of critical minerals was a “refit and rehash and renouncement with no delivery”.

Mr Dutton said key elements of Mr Albanese’s proposal for a ­reserve – including offtake agreements and a national stockpile – would be considered in government if the Coalition wins the election.

“Critical minerals are absolutely essential for us and for our partners and, whether that looks like an offtake agreement or whether it looks like an agreement to stockpile or to work with the US and the UK and Japan et cetera, we’ll work all of that detail out in government,” he said.

The Coalition has vowed to ­expand the critical mineral list to include copper, uranium, zinc, bauxite, alumina, aluminium, potash, phosphate and tin.

The Prime Minister unveiled plans for an ­initial $1.2bn investment in a ­national reserve that will stockpile critical minerals such as ­lithium, nickel and cobalt so they are available for Australian manufacturers and select nations such as Japan and South Korea.

The Australian reported on Thursday a re-elected Albanese government would ask US President Donald Trump for a new deal on tariffs in return for access to the reserve.

While critical minerals are a crucial element in manufacturing AI applications, smartphones, computers, solar panels and electric vehicles, they are also used to make defence assets such as ­nuclear-powered submarines, F-35 fighter jets and sonar systems.

China, which produces 90 per cent of rare earths and a majority of critical minerals, has restricted supply of metals central to the US defence sector as the trade war ­between the nations escalates.

Under Mr Albanese’s proposal to develop a strategic reserve, the government will strike deals with willing mining companies to acquire agreed volumes of critical minerals from commercial projects. While part of the reserve will be used for domestic manufacturers, the government will establish stockpiles of critical minerals that are of strategic significance.

Minerals Council of Australia chief executive Tania Constable said it “remains to be seen” whether a strategic reserve is a good idea.

“While we acknowledge that a reserve may increase Australia’s chances of limiting the impact of US tariffs, this initiative is certainly not without domestic risk and may impact the commercial viability of operations through continued downward pressure on commodity prices,” Ms Constable said. “The objective and merits of a critical minerals strategic reserve remain unclear, and this initiative must be evaluated against other opportunities to leverage our ­mining industry.”

Opposition resources spokeswoman Susan McDonald said Labor’s announcement was “an admission of policy failure”.

“As a part of the Coalition’s plans to get Australia back on track, we will refocus our critical minerals strategy to better align with the defence and strategic needs of Australia and its allies,” she said.

“By expanding the critical minerals list, the Coalition will cement Australia’s reliability and national security credentials as part of the Quad, AUKUS and Five Eyes.”