Natural Resources

Recognises Australia’s strong natural resource endowment (including water and renewable energy inputs) as an enabling advantage for AI infrastructure (Action 1, p10–12, Action 2, p13). Whilst acknowledging that there are initiatives outside the plan to foster this capability (for example, the Critical Minerals Strategy 2023–2030 or Pax Silica Declaration (2025), to which Australia is a signatory), this assessment is of the plan only and commitment is therefore assessed to be limited. Limited commitment by government in the plan represents a strategic missed opportunity. More should be done to leverage this very high agency. This is one of 8 capabilities over which Australia wields very high agency; national priority should be given to maintaining this agency and increasing whole of government coordination to leverage it internationally to more deliberately offset gaps in other capabilities of low agency.