Australia loses top spot
AUSTRALIA is no longer ranked the most attractive region for mining investment in the world after falling to second place in the 2017 Fraser Institute survey of mining and exploration companies.
According to the Fraser Institute, Canada was now ranked the most attractive region in the world for mining investment, with Finland rated the top jurisdiction.
WA was the only Australian jurisdiction to appear in the global top 10, however it fell for the third consecutive year, dropping from first place in 2015, to third in 2016 and now fifth place in 2017 out of the 91 jurisdictions.
QLD fell from 10th to 12th place, South Australia from 13th to 14th place, the Northern Territory dropped seven places to 27th, and Victoria dropped 14 places to 71st.
NSW and Tasmania were the only Australian States which improved their ranking, rising to 46th and 50th place respectively.
Association of Mining and Exploration Companies (AMEC) chief executive Warren Pearce attributed the results to increased red tape, proposed royalty increases and regulatory uncertainty across the country.
“The geology has not changed, but Governments are damaging our investment attractiveness,” Mr Pearce said.
“The report highlights that Australia’s mining and mineral exploration industry is not immune to the negative impact of regulatory and public policy uncertainty.
“Ultimately, if processes are duplicative, costly and slow, companies will invest in competing jurisdictions.”
The report came days after Australia’s ranking also fell in Transparency International‘s Corruption Perceptions Index.
Of the 180 countries studied, Australia still ranked 13th place, but its CPI score had decreased again for the sixth consecutive year.
“This suggests a loss of trust in the Australian public sector and the perception, at best, that corruption has gotten worse, in only a few short years,” Transparency International Australia chief executive Serena Lillywhite said.