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DANIEL:

From Schwartz Media, I’m Daniel James. This is 7am.

Julie Bishop built her career as a politician representing Australia on the world stage.

Now, she’s taken on a new lobbying role, working for a company with ties to the Chinese government, trying to mine uranium in Greenland.

Her gig comes at a time when China and the U.S. are ramping up their fight for domination in the Arctic and if she’s successful, the benefit will flow to China.

Today, contributor to The Saturday Paper, Ben Abbatangelo on the mine that could ruin Greenland, and what it means for Australia’s national interest.

It’s Monday, March 10.

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DANIEL:

Ben, thanks for joining us. How did you get onto Greenland?

BEN:

Yeah, I mean, Greenland came into everyone's consciousness when Donald Trump was re-elected, and he continually mused about his desire to acquire the tiny micro state.

Audio Excerpt - Donald Trump:

“Well, we need Greenland for national security purposes. I've been told that for a long time. Long before I even ran. I mean, people have been talking about it for a long time.”

BEN:

He also doubled down on that at the state of the Union most recently

Audio Excerpt - Donald Trump:

“And I also have a message tonight for the incredible people of Greenland.”

BEN:

You know, reaffirming his position that he'd love to acquire either by economic coercion or force.

Audio Excerpt - Donald Trump:

“And I think we're going to get it one way or the other. We're going to get it. We will keep you safe. We will make you rich. And together we will take Greenland to heights like you have never thought possible before.”

BEN:

And so I started looking into the region. And quickly realised that Greenland, while it has an incredibly sparse population, has a vast stretch of land which is incredibly rich with critical minerals and incredibly important from a military perspective as well.

DANIEL:

And we know the race for critical minerals is really heating up. Can you tell me a bit more about the opportunity that Trump sees in Greenland?

BEN:

Yeah, there's a few things at play here. The first point of context is that Arctic is incredibly important for the major players, Russia, China, the United States to be able to control, communicate and coordinate all of the satellites that are responsible for many of the things that we are accustomed to today.

But why Greenland is really significant is according to a recent Danish study, 31 of 34 materials defined as critical by the EU, like lithium and titanium are found in Greenland. It's also incredibly rich with uranium and thorium.

And with the rising temperatures, the ice on Greenland is starting to recede, it means that the abundance of rare earth minerals deposited there are becoming more accessible.

So there’s already huge vested interests that are circling Greenland. People like Bill Gates and Jeff Bezos are investors in mining projects there. And also people like Howard Lutnick who is Trump’s commerce secretary.

Audio Excerpt - News Reporter:

“A band of billionaires from Jeff Bezos to Michael Bloomberg and Bill Gates is all betting that below the surface of the hills and valleys on Greenland's Disko Island and Nuussuaq Peninsula there's enough nickel, cobalt and copper to power hundreds of millions of electric vehicles.”

BEN:

But beyond those big names is a small Australian mining company that is also looking to exploit an incredibly rich deposit in the southern part of Greenland. And not only that, they're actually trying to sue the government there to get these interests off the ground.

DANIEL:

Alright let’s talk about this Australian company then. Who are they and what are they trying to do in Greenland?

BEN:

Yeah, so Energy Transition Minerals is a junior mining company that Melbourne based listed on the ASX.

Audio Excerpt - Speaker 1:

“I'm excited to be joined by someone I haven't actually spoken to yet. Daniel Mamadou-Blanco of Energy Transition Minerals, an exciting new company that is exploring in different assets areas of Western Europe and North America and obviously in Greenland.”

BEN:

They have one major interest in the south of Greenland, called the Kvanefjeld Project.

Audio Excerpt - Speaker 1:

“Can you give us a brief overview?”

Audio Excerpt - Daniel Mamadou-Blanco:

“Absolutely. So our major project is the Kvanefjeld project. It's located in Greenland, the southern part of Greenland.”

BEN:

And this project has the capacity to supply 15% of the world's rare earth elements for advanced technology, manufacturing and advanced weaponry. So as a single deposit it is really significant.

Audio Excerpt - Daniel Mamadou-Blanco:

“Making it one of the largest rare earth projects outside of China.”

Audio Excerpt - Speaker 1:

“Wow.”

BEN:

In the wake of Donald Trump's re-election, their share price over the following weeks surged by 400%. But what's important to know about energy transition minerals is its deep links to CCP linked financiers and companies.

DANIEL:

So the CCP - the Chinese Communist Party. What are China’s interests in Greenland and ETM in particular?

BEN:

Yes, there's a few things at play here. The first point of context is that China dominates the rare earths supply chain.

And what a couple of Chinese linked companies are doing is they find predominantly junior mining companies around the world that have leases or exploitation licenses over critical mineral deposits. What they then look to do is put in place agreements that allow them to obtain all of the minerals that are extracted from those deposits, so that they all go back to China for processing and then which enables them to maintain their monopoly over that critical minerals supply chain.

But beyond that, military experts are saying that in these strategic areas like Greenland, that there's a military component it. The region is just critical for spacecraft, and they want to be able to put dual sensors and other technology in there that can enable them to capture intelligence on their adversaries and potentially through time also be able to sabotage them.

DANIEL:

Right. So we've got ETM connected with Chinese interests looking to mine Greenland for its rare minerals. But in 2021 that was derailed.

BEN:

It was derailed. So in 2021, the opposition party effectively went to the polls with a central promise, and that they would ban this project due to fears about its close proximity to local populations, the very real concerns that it would have when it comes to people's health, the tourism sector, the environment itself. And they won the election.

Audio Excerpt - Speaker 1:

“Now, why has development of the project been held up recently?”

Audio Excerpt - Daniel Mamadou-Blanco:

“Well, the main reason is the introduction of the Uranium Act, or Act 20 by the government of Greenland that came into power.”

BEN:

And what that meant for energy Transition Minerals and their Kvanefjeld project is that it was immediately halted.

Audio Excerpt - Speaker 1:

“So it's a bit to navigate there right now.”

Audio Excerpt - Daniel Mamadou-Blanco:

“Absolutely. But we've got a great team. We are working with worldwide experts in conflict resolution and getting around that issue.”

DANIEL:

“Getting around that issue”, what does that mean. How has ETM responded?

BEN:

ETM’s response was quite litigious. They’ve lodged a statement of claim in the courts and they are looking to sue the Greenland and Denmark governments for a staggering 11.5 billion dollar U.S. which is approximately four times Greenland's annual GDP.

And they have retained the services of Australia’s former foreign minister Julie Bishop to support that.

DANIEL:

After the break - why Julie Bishop got the job.

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DANIEL:

Ben you’ve been looking into this Australian mining company with links to China. Now you say they’ve hired former foreign minister Julie Bishop, tell me about that.

BEN:

So Julie Bishop was hired in January of this year. It was off the back of Donald Trump's re-election. The company noted Bishop would provide support and counsel to its board to negotiate a win-win, and it explicitly referenced her time as former foreign minister. When describing, I suppose, the contribution that she would make, saying she had, quote, an outstanding track record of working with governments around the world to deliver mutually beneficial outcomes.

DANIEL:

Yeah so Julie Bishop’s track record, she was Minister for Foreign Affairs for five years and she’s talked about her encounters with Trump in that time so some strategic advantages for ETM there.

Audio Excerpt - Speaker 2:

“Did you meet Donald Trump?”

Audio Excerpt - Julie Bishop:

“Yes. Yes.”

Audio Excerpt - Speaker 2:

“How did that go? I know you have to be diplomatic.”

Audio Excerpt - Julie Bishop:

“I met the president on a number of occasions. He is quite unorthodox. He's very confident, self-confident. And again, because I was Australia's foreign minister, he was very warm and welcoming.”

DANIEL:

But since retiring from politics she moved into the university sector and she’s currently the chancellor of ANU.

Audio Excerpt - Julie Bishop:

“It is a great honour to take up the role of chancellor of Australian National University. Without doubt ANU is world class in terms of education.”

DANIEL:

How is it that she can have this lobbying gig on top of her role there?

BEN:

Yeah, it's a great question and I spoke with Geoffrey Watson SC, who is a director at the Centre of Public Integrity, and he was astonished that not only a former foreign minister, but also the chancellor of ANU would use her skills and reputation on a project like this.

And just asked, you know, what's for sale here? Is it Julie's reputation? Is it Australia's reputation?

And I suppose yet it raises much broader questions around, the very real fact that before this uranium ban was put in place, all of the indicators were that all of the uranium and thorium that was extracted out of this project was going to go to China, was going to be processed by companies that are designated as advancing the modernisation aims of China. What does that mean for Australia?

So we made repeated efforts to understand if the Australian National University was aware of Miss Bishop's role with ETM, but they declined to comment. We also asked Penny Wong, the current foreign minister if there was a concern that her predecessor was working with, you know, companies that have been deemed to be, out of line with Australia's national interests. But she also declined to comment. And we also reached out to the treasurer, Jim Chalmers. But the treasurer also declined to comment.

DANIEL:

So no one wanted to talk to you about it. What do you think that says about? Politicians leaving office and taking these types of lobbying gigs. Where the benefit to Australia is actually quite questionable. What does that tell you?

BEN:

It just makes me think that, all persuasions, it feels within Australian politics are okay with leaving office and using the skills, the influence, the gravitas, the networks, the rolodex that they've acquired during those roles to further advance their own aspiration.

Christopher Pyne was integral in defence. And then he's now a defence contractor. I mean, we think of Scott Morrison as well, who was bounced into a whole range of roles that are linked to AUKUS and many other significant policies that his government pushed through.

I think everyone deserves to have a life post politics, but I think it's really alarming that you can use what you've acquired during that time.

DANIEL:

So back to Greenland. The litigation is underway. This is strange. Government is suing the Greenland government Julie Bishop is lobbying for them. So where do you expect this to land, Ben?

BEN:

So we are on the eve of the Greenland election, the current party that is seeking re-election has doubled down on the fact that it will maintain the uranium ban. But the opposition party, who is putting itself forward for this election, has refused to say whether or not they will keep or repeal that uranium ban.

So it is high stakes for Greenlanders and for energy transition minerals and Julie Bishop.

And I suppose, there's still those circling question marks around the U.S., China, Russia who yeah, all want to have their noses in the Greenland trough.

DANIEL:

I didn't see Greenland on my bingo card ticket this year as being the talking point that it is, but thank you for your reporting and thank you for coming in and speaking to us.

BEN:

Appreciate it. Thank you.

DANIEL:

You can read Ben Abbatangelo and Rachel Hoffman’s story about Julie Bishop and the Greenland mining project at thesaturdaypaper.com.au.

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DANIEL:

Also in the news today,

Six soldiers have serious injuries after an accident near Lismore on Saturday night.

Two military trucks rolled while doing clearance work in the flood affected area.

The soldiers from the Gallipoli barracks in Brisbane, are now being treated in hospital. Two are in a serious condition.

And, WA Premier Roger Cook has won his first election as premier, as Labor swept to victory in the state election for a third consecutive time.

The ABC’s election analyst Antony Green said the result was "disastrous" for the Liberal party, and pointed to a significant recovery in the Greens vote, after the party underperformed last time around.

I’m Daniel James, this is 7am. We’ll be back tomorrow.

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