Canada and Australia deepen critical minerals ties

After eight years of negotiations, Australia has signed a free trade agreement (FTA) with the European Union (EU) to lower trade and investment barriers between the regions.Yesterday, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and European Commission President Ursula von der Leyen announced the conclusion of negotiations for a FTA alongside a new security and defence partnership.The FTA will boost trade and cooperation on critical minerals, reinforcing the Australia–EU strategic partnership on critical minerals by establishing a clear framework that underpins market access and long-term cooperation across the full minerals value chain.Under the FTA, almost all Australian exports of manufactured goods and mineral resources to the EU will face zero import tariffs.Federal Trade and Tourism Minister Don Farrell says the FTA is a strategically important and economically valuable agreement at a time when Australian exporters are navigating choppy trade waters.“This hard-fought deal delivers real commercial gains for Australian exporters, farmers and producers into a market that has been difficult to enter or effectively closed for decades,” he said.“The removal of EU tariffs on most of Australia’s exports gives Australian exporters the opportunity to diversify trade with 27 European countries and 450 million consumers.”Australian companies, including small and medium-sized enterprises, will have better access to bid for lucrative European government contracts, worth about $845b annually, including for rail and construction.Australian professionals will also be able to travel to the EU more easily and will benefit from streamlined recognition of their Australian qualifications.Minerals Council of Australia chief executive Tania Constable says Australia is positioned to be a reliable, long-term supplier of the minerals essential to energy systems, defence technologies, advanced manufacturing and broader industrial resilience.“Mutual recognition of qualifications, professional services and specialist expertise will strengthen industrial capability by improving workforce mobility so critical engineering, technical and professional skills can be deployed more efficiently across mining, processing, manufacturing and defence?adjacent sectors,” she said.“The agreement improves market access for Australian miners, enhances investment certainty and provides a strong platform for increased EU investment into Australian mining projects, downstream processing and critical minerals supply chains.”The FTA will enter into force when both Australia and the EU have completed their domestic processes.

The Federal Government has struck a deal with the Greens to pass the Environment Protection Reform Bill 2025, delivering on a five-year mission to reform Australia’s environmental laws.

Billion-dollar mine felled by a blue banded beeLast year, former Federal Environment Minister Tanya Plibersek derailed Regis Resources’ (ASX: RRL) $1b McPhillamys gold project in NSW with a controversial Indigenous heritage ruling.Now more than a year later, the Federal Court in Sydney is hearing Regis’ case — with the company pleading that the decision should be deemed invalid due to alleged issues and failures on behalf of Minister Plibersek.Regis Resources has argued that the view held by the Federal Department of Climate Change, Energy, the Environment and Water (DCCEEW) changed after additional evidence was produced by an independent Aboriginal elder more than a year after approval was granted.The Dreaming story that was given as evidence is considered controversial between Traditional Owners and Regis argues that further investigation should have taken place before the ruling was handed out.If Regis’ application is successful, the company will seek a declaration from a Federal Court judge that the Section 10 declaration is legally invalid and that the application be redetermined by a minister other than Minister Plibersek.Despite the contention, Minister Plibersek has remained adamant in her ruling.“The truth is we are living in a country where we've got thousands of years of continuous culture and heritage. We've done a pretty bad job of protecting it in the past,” Minister Plibersek said.“If we sincerely believe that we can't allow the destruction of cultural heritage in that way, then occasionally decisions like this have to be taken.“Protecting cultural heritage and development are not mutually exclusive. We can have both,” Minister Plibersek said.The ruling made in August 2024 — more than a year after the project was approved — denied the construction of a tailings dam near the Belubula River in an attempt to protect culturally significant land.“The Wiradjuri/Wiradyuri people, who traditionally lived around the Bathurst area, have significant spiritual and cultural connections to the headwaters of the Belubula River,” Minister Plibersek said at the time.“If this site were to be desecrated, it would be a threat to the continuance of Wiradjuri/Wiradyuri culture.“Crucially, my decision is not to stop the mine. The company has indicated to me that it has assessed around four sites and 30 potential options for the tailings dam.”Following the ruling, contrary to Minister Plibersek's declaration, Regis deemed the project as non-viable, stating it would take up to 10 years to identify and gain approval for an alternative tailings site, before taking out a non-cash impairment of $192m.The federal heritage protection system operates through Section 10 emergency declarations, which can override existing state approvals when sites face imminent threat of desecration. This power to operate independently from state mining approvals has created significant regulatory complexity.The Regis protection order challenge is an example of these two-tier regulatory system dynamics.During the initial assessment process, Regis consulted the Orange Local Aboriginal Council, who was believed to be the legally recognised Traditional Owner representatives of the region.In 2020, Wiradjuri Elder Aunty Nyree Reynolds lodged a protection application which failed to meet the required protection criteria. The application was made independent of the Orange Local Aboriginal Land Council and NSW Aboriginal Land Council.The NSW Government granted the McPhillamys project approval in 2023 but critical cultural evidence regarding the Blue Banded Bee Dreaming story emerged after approval was received, completely shifting the assessment trajectory.The federal protection orders were implemented in late 2024 despite the significance of the evidence being disputed between the Wiradjuri community.Under the federal protection system process, it was considered unnecessary to undertake additional consultation with Regis Resources.Following the ruling, Regis Resources chief executive Jim Beyer said the required restart of the approvals process with the NSW and Federal Governments could take up to 10 years, with no certainty of a viable alternative being realised.“Following the surprising and disappointing Section 10 Declaration by Minister Plibersek, Regis has commenced an assessment of the impacts on the economic value of our business,” he said.Regis Resources announced its decision to contest the ministerial decision shortly after, arguing the company was not afforded the opportunity to respond to the change in the application following the accumulation of new evidence.