Australia has the second largest reserve volumes of lithium, yet we don’t manufacture batteries in Australia – we send it all offshore. We have 19% of the world’s cobalt resources (also used in batteries), and 18% of global vanadium resources, but we do no production here. The opportunity exists to diversify outside of traditional resources and take our resources sector up several notches. In our podcast, Brent Steedman, National Head of Energy and Resources, says the positive sentiment is there – but the future of the mining sector is dependent on access to labour and developing the next frontier – critical and Rare Earth minerals.