Will Queensland's new critical minerals plan deliver a downstream processing industry?

Queensland's new critical minerals plan, Delivering Queensland's Critical Minerals Future 2026-30 (the 2026-30 Plan), arrives at a time when governments around the world are competing not only to develop critical minerals projects, but also to secure processing and refining capability. Accordingly, the Queensland Government recently committed $146 million over three years to accelerate critical minerals development and drive new investment into projects and infrastructure. In the 2026-30 Plan, the government hopes to position Queensland as a global leader in the supply of critical minerals, and as a trusted partner in secure, resilient supply chains. 

In this article, we examine whether the 2026-30 Plan can meaningfully move Queensland beyond extraction and towards a more substantial processing and refining industry.

The 2026-30 Plan at a glance

The 2026-30 Plan sets out the Queensland Government's proposed key actions across four priority areas:

• Delivering projects: improving access to geological data to support exploration and investment decisions, and reforms to approval processes (such as those required under the State Development and Public Works Organisation Act 1971) to reduce duplication and accelerate project delivery. 
• Expanding the value chain: co-investment in multi-user infrastructure such as processing, testing and demonstration facilities to address common barriers to development and improve project viability, including facilities like the Queensland Resources Common User Facility (QRCUF).
• Securing global investment: supporting eligible critical minerals projects through the $250 million Queensland Critical Minerals Fund (QCMF), which offers flexible investment options including equity, debt and hybrid structures; and promoting investment-ready Queensland projects through initiatives like the Critical Minerals Prospectus and the online Investor Hub.  
• Building a strong regional Queensland: additional measures to boost critical minerals-related investment in regional Queensland, including: 
  • creating a strong and skilled workforce through initiatives such as the Queensland Resources Workforce Plan; 
  • strategic infrastructure investments in support of regional mining activities; and 
  • groundwater baseline studies in Critical Mineral Zones to strengthen the evidence base for regional investment. 

Many of the themes in the 2026-30 Plan will be familiar to industry participants. More than a policy reset, it is an implementation framework aimed at accelerating delivery. The real test is whether its approvals reforms, infrastructure initiatives and funding measures translate into faster project development and improved investment conditions.

How does it stack up in reality?

The 2026-30 Plan, arguably the state's most implementation-focused critical minerals policy to date, reinforces Queensland's ambition to become a leading critical minerals jurisdiction, and signals a shift towards developing processing, refining and broader value-chain capability. However, downstream development remains challenging, requiring significant capital, reliable and competitively priced energy, transport infrastructure, skilled labour, and long-term demand. The challenge is no longer identifying critical minerals resources, but establishing commercially viable pathways for processing, refining and export.

Overall, the 2026-30 Plan is expected to address several key challenges faced by Queensland-based critical minerals projects proponents, especially with regards to timeliness of regulatory approvals and availability of multi-user infrastructure.

However, it remains unclear whether the proposed reforms will align Queensland environmental assessment and approvals processes with those in the EPBC Act, which would reduce approval timeframes and regulatory duplication.

Additionally, it remains unclear whether the investment package announced in the 2026-30 Plan would be sufficient to kickstart a viable Queensland-based downstream processing, refining and manufacturing industry, in that: 

• the proposed QCMF funding of $250 million appears modest in view of the significant upfront investment and long lead times required for downstream critical minerals value chains; and
• unlike some overseas jurisdictions (e.g. the EU Critical Raw Materials Act), the 2026-30 Plan does not appear to contemplate production-linked support measures (such as offtake facilitation) or other measures designed to directly de-risk downstream processing investment.  

Queensland is not only competing with other Australian jurisdictions for critical minerals investment, but also with overseas jurisdictions offering increasingly sophisticated support mechanisms for downstream processing and manufacturing. Whether additional support measures emerge over time may be important to Queensland's ability to compete.

What critical minerals proponents should be thinking about now

While many elements of the 2026-2030 Plan are yet to be implemented, proponents should be assessing how it may affect project development and investment decisions.

In particular:

• monitor regulatory reforms and new government initiatives;
• assess whether projects align with Queensland's funding and support priorities;
• consider whether shared infrastructure opportunities could improve project economics;
• understand the implications of potential approvals reforms for project timelines; and
• engage early with bodies such as Critical Minerals Queensland to maximise access to available support measures (noting application processes are likely to be very competitive).

For downstream proponents, the key question is whether Queensland's evolving policy settings can attract investment that might otherwise flow to competing jurisdictions. Ultimately, success will depend not only on funding support, but also on the delivery of approvals reform, enabling infrastructure and a competitive operating environment.

We will continue to monitor developments as further detail on the implementation of the 2026-30 Plan emerges.

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