Joyce push on key minerals; export shift

Deputy PM endorses domestic critical minerals processing

Deputy Prime Minister Barnaby Joyce has championed the development of manufacturing to harness Australia’s reserves of critical minerals and rare earths. In an address to the National Press Club, Mr Joyce said Australia had most of the base material of critical minerals but little of the manufacturing capacity. He said it was in Australia’s interest to be a major global source of the metals that resulted from downstream processing of critical minerals; it was also in the interest of all like-minded democracies that Australia was at least an alternate key provider.

Banned exports finding new markets, says Treasurer

Federal Treasurer Josh Frydenberg said that Australia’s economy had remained resilient against China’s willingness to use its economic weight as a source of political pressure. In an address to an Australian National University forum, the Treasurer said many of the firms and industries targeted by China’s trade restrictions had been successful in re-directing goods to other export destinations. He said that coal that otherwise would have gone to China had been exported to markets including India, South Korea and Taiwan while barley had found new export destinations in Saudi Arabia, and wine was being targeted for the UK, Singapore, Germany and South Korea.

Iron ore boom boosts WA budget

West Australian Premier and Treasurer Mark McGowan has forecast a $2.8 billion budget surplus for 2021-22 and pledged $30.7 billion in infrastructure spending, in the first WA Budget since the March election. Mr McGowan said the 2020-21 budget surplus was estimated at $5.6 billion, boosted by record iron ore exports. Net state debt was forecast to continue to fall, to $32.1 billion. Over the past year, WA has remained relatively unscathed by Covid-19 while iron ore prices jumped; in 2021-22, royalties are forecast to deliver the state more than $10 billion in revenue.

RBA issues rosy economic outlook

Reserve Bank of Australia Governor Philip Lowe has issued an upbeat report on the national economy, noting that the Delta outbreak was expected to delay, but not derail, economic recovery. Dr Lowe said the economy should bounce back as vaccination rates increased further and restrictions were eased, but the pace of the recovery was likely to be slower than that of earlier this year. He noted that while the outbreak was affecting most parts of the economy, the impact was uneven, with some areas facing difficult conditions while others were continuing to grow strongly.

Multiple job holders at record levels

A record number of employed people are working in more than one job, according to the Australian Bureau of Statistics. In the June quarter, 6.5 per cent of people held more than one job, up from the record low of 4.9 per cent 12 months earlier, during the onset of Covid-19. More than 800,000 Australians held two jobs, with highest proportions among the administrative, arts and recreation, and education and training sectors. Meanwhile, the number of payroll jobs and total wages paid continued to fall in Australia, dropping 0.7 per cent and one per cent respectively since the end of July. ABS figures reveal payroll job numbers fell 1.2 per cent in New South Wales, but rose 1.5 per cent in South Australia and 0.2 per cent in the Northern Territory.