Australia tops list for mining investment attractiveness

The Fraser Institute Annual Survey of Mining Companies 2022 confirms once again that Australia is the leading mining jurisdiction in the world with three states – Western Australia, Northern Territory and South Australia – in the top ten for investment based on the Investment Attractiveness Index.

Western Australia, which topped the ranking last year, ranked 2nd this year, Northern Territory 6th and South Australia 8th.

The Fraser Institute’s mining survey is an informal survey that attempts to assess the perceptions of mining company executives about various optimal and sub-optimal public policies that might affect the hospitality of a jurisdiction to mining investment.

Despite the results, Australia shouldn’t rest on its laurels.

There are signs that investors are being deterred by poor government processes and policies.

Australia’s geological potential will not be able to continue to counterbalance this trend to higher royalties and policy processes that delay approvals and investment decisions.

Australia’s vulnerability to competition from resource-rich economies will only grow as they seek to seize the opportunity to supply the minerals and metals needed to achieve global net zero emissions.

To attract a significant proportion of this investment that will create tens of thousands of new regional jobs, business growth and investment should be placed at the centre of the government’s policymaking.

Current policy settings are putting at risk investment in mining.

Workplace relations, tax, environment, climate change and energy policies that impose unexpected costs on the mining industry threaten the capital investment that underpins its contribution to the economy and the global efforts to decarbonise.

Australia needs more investment along the entire mining value chain to boost the economy’s performance and play its part in the goal of net zero emissions by 2050.