HEY MINISTER! INDUSTRY HAS THE ANSWERS – NOT BEAN COUNTERS

24 July 2025

For most of the last 18 months, the future of the Mount Isa Copper Mine and Smelter have demanded my intense focus.

Much has been said about the critical nature of the Mount Isa Copper Smelter and the associated Townsville Refinery; its importance in Australia’s world trade, the 17,000 jobs it supports, and the future of Mount Isa itself.

Since the first announcement that the owners would be closing this critical infrastructure, I have sought out knowledgeable industry leaders who know this stuff best.  Mine managers and engineers, financiers, deal brokers, market experts, the list goes on.

What they have collectively told me, and in recent months have clearly communicated to the Mines Minister, is there is a deal to be done to keep our Copper Future.

That’s why it’s so frustrating then to hear nearly every week the government saying it is committed to doing everything possible to keep the industrial powerhouses operating, when that is clearly not the case.

Instead, we have the accountants leading the negotiations, with offensive offers of cash handouts in the form of accounting trickery which would never be enough to keep the facility open – regardless of who the owner is.

The Federal Government know the impact of this closure to their own Made in Australia program, and their world trade posturing.  They want to keep this critical infrastructure operating.

So that’s why it is so unbelievable that the Queensland government – the Mines Minister - is yet to cut a deal.

There is a deal to be done. A deal that was clearly presented and explained by industry leaders months ago. A deal that the smelter’s owners are clearly interested in.

It’s not an exaggeration to say that Queensland’s proud Minerals mining industry, the industry that has a flow-on effect right across Australia, is teetering.

We need our Queensland Mines Minister to stand up, and work with industry – not bean counters. If he’s not willing to, we need to fast track a solution via the Federal Government – to cut the deal that we can all proudly say, secures Queensland’s Copper Future and Australia’s mineral sovereignty for generations to come.

-Ends-                         For all media enquiries please contact Cam Parker: 0413 236 995