“It’s not a bet I’d feel confident about…Should Australia really be using its dominance in global lithium to boost China’s dominance in battery tech?”
Taking aim at Resources Minister Madeleine King, Walton will distance his union from the government by saying: “Although we are historically intertwined with the Australian Labor Party, we are certainly not one and the same.
“And so when we believe a Labor government is at risk of taking the wrong path, we believe we have a responsibility to speak up.”
The AWU, previously led by Bill Shorten and Paul Howes, is one of the most influential unions within the Labor Party and plays a powerful role in the party’s right faction.
Walton, who will also announce he is stepping down after almost seven years in the job, will say he fears the nation is “miscategorising the critical minerals boom as just another mining boom”.
“My fear is that our government sees its role as just setting basic terms for multinationals to dig these minerals up as fast as they please so they can ship them to wherever they want,” he will say.
“Now during the most recent boom that focused on iron ore and coal and gas – that kind of lazy
approach was misguided.
“But it will be catastrophic if we take that same approach with critical minerals.
“Catastrophic not just to our economy and to our national interests, but catastrophic to global security.”
King recently said the government was considering only allowing “like-minded” nations to invest in Australian critical minerals projects, but Walton fears she is “missing the bigger point”.
“Our primary concern should not be who is investing in our mines,” he will say.
“Our primary concern should be where the products of those mines are going and how it is affecting the world.”
Cut through the noise of federal politics with news, views and expert analysis from Jacqueline Maley. Subscribers can sign up to our weekly Inside Politics newsletter here.
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