GRX26 Program

Critical minerals are no longer just a commodity. They are diplomatic instruments used as leverage, embedded in alliance frameworks, and reshaping the rules of international engagement. China controls processing and has weaponised export controls. The US has announced a $12 billion strategic reserve. Australia’s Minister for Resources is in Washington for the inaugural Critical Minerals Ministerial. Three partnership frameworks signed in the past 12 months — with the US, through AUKUS, and with Canada — are as much about foreign policy as they are about supply chains. 

The Hon Julie Bishop, Australia’s former Foreign Minister and now a strategic advisor to the resources sector, will deliver a diplomatic briefing for an industry audience. Having built Australia’s alliance architecture from the government side and now advising the companies navigating it, Bishop brings a uniquely balanced perspective on the competing national interests at play. She is candid about where partnership and self-interest collide, and honest about what Australia can learn from the speed and decisiveness of others. 

Bishop then joins a panel of diplomats from partner nations and industry in a reverse-panel format. No prepared presentations. The audience interrogates the new rules of resource diplomacy and whether Australia’s approach is fit for the pace of the game.