Katter warns PM and Premier: Fail Isa, fail the nation
KENNEDY MP, Bob Katter says Foreign Affairs Minister Penny Wong shaking hands with foreign trade diplomats promising the riches of Australia's critical minerals is like trying to sell an empty box with "minerals" stamped on the side while our third largest industrial centre, Mount Isa, is collapsing taking Townsville and its port with it.
Federal Member for Kennedy, Bob Katter, today visited Mount Isa, a city built on mining and industrial manufacturing, as its people face the grim reality of a slow-motion industrial collapse 20 years in the making off the back of Glencore's threat of imminent closure should they fail to get a "government bailout".
Mr Katter spoke directly with residents, many of whom have spent generations working in the mines, smelters, and refineries that once defined Australia's critical mineral capacity.
"For decades, governments in this country have taken our mineral processing for granted, and at the same time Glencore has made short-term self-serving decisions on investment and energy that created risks for the entire country," Mr Katter said.
"The Mount Isa-Townsville industrial complex is not just important; it is the most important manufacturing production line in this nation. It is the only place in Australia where copper ore from across Queensland and beyond can be turned into usable copper – the copper that builds your homes, powers your electrical infrastructure, underpins weapons manufacturing, and drives the computers and technology that hold our country together.
"Yet governments have sat idly by while Glencore has been allowed to gain complete control over Australia's most valuable industrial asset, and they've made some disastrous decisions that are biting them and risking Australia's minerals production. And now, with copper prices strong, demand rising, and the world screaming for critical minerals, our processing capacity is being shuttered.
"For 20 years, governments and Ministers have come to Mount Isa for their photo opportunities, promised cheaper power, more competitive markets, and finally, CopperString. But every announcement has been just that – words and no action, and they've left every major decision up to a ruthless multinational trading company that is now threatening to walk," Mr Katter said.
"And while the Mount Isa smelter and Townsville refinery are collapsing, Penny Wong is overseas telling the United States that our metals are a strategic asset for their benefit. That is a betrayal of our country and makes a mockery of one of our biggest allies.
"This is not entirely the making of the current Prime Minister or Premier – but if Australia loses its capacity to turn copper ore into finished copper products, it will be their failure, that's the tough reality of government. And it will haunt them and all of us forever, that they presided over the complete destruction of one of their largest industrial regions.
Mr Katter said the time for discussion was over.
"The Prime Minister and the Premier know what needs to happen; they need to help our copper industry compete against other nations trying to corner global copper supply, break Glencore's stranglehold on the industry in Queensland, and build CopperString. And if they want to retain any sense of relevance to the USA and our allies, they will announce that this weekend.
"Anything short of this will be failure," Mr Katter said. "It will destroy our capacity to negotiate with the United States and our allies. And it will gut the economy of North and North West Queensland, leaving thousands of workers and their families behind – betrayed and abandoned."
ENDS
