CEO statement

23 June 2020

I am excited by Minister Pitt’s announcement of the $125 million extension and expansion of the Exploring for the Future (EFTF) program.

Since its launch in 2016, EFTF has focused on investigating mineral, energy and groundwater resource potential across northern Australia. We have dedicated substantial time and effort, and collaborated extensively with government, industry, and community stakeholders to deliver more than 200 datasets – datasets that are already helping to build Australia’s resources wealth and to secure the future of our resources and agricultural sectors. It is expected that work already completed could generate as much as $2.5 billion in economic benefits for the Australia economy. The expansion of the program is testament to the success of the program so far, and to its ongoing potential to create jobs and stimulate the economy.

This new investment allows us to expand our focus to cover the entire country, and further build on our understanding of Australia’s geoscience. Over the next four years, it will allow us to deliver a national picture of Australia’s mineral, energy and groundwater resource potential, an important component of the Australian Government’s National Resources Statement.

Importantly, the program will also deliver jobs in some of Australia’s most regional and remote communities. In the short to medium term this will create jobs in the Mining Equipment, Technology and Services sector to support data collection and field work activities; down the track, we expect this to increase as direct and indirect jobs flow from the economic growth stimulated by this work.

Driving exploration investment, generating jobs, and securing the future of the resources and agriculture sectors is integral to helping accelerate Australia’s post-COVID economic recovery. As the country’s pre-eminent Earth science organisation, Geoscience Australia is excited to play a role – working with our state and territory partners, integrating world-class geoscience data with cutting-edged techniques and approaches to understand the Earth for the benefit of all Australians.

For more information, visit the EFTF webpage.