The very influential ASPI highlighted Kim Beazley's (ex Federal...

The very influential ASPI highlighted Kim Beazley's (ex Federal ALP Leader) views on REE, & said 28.10.22

"Rare earths are not necessarily rare, but they are considered to exist in concentrations too low to be mined economically. Beazley says vast amounts are already being mined in Australia, but processing here is limited so far. To ensure supply to the defence and environmental industries that depend on these minerals, the mined material must be processed. That’s a strategic imperative, he says.

Beazley says Beijing is well aware that Australia is the world’s only major producer of rare earths independent of the Chinese Communist Party–controlled supply chain. ‘Beijing has made offers for Western Australian mineral businesses well above market value to try to maintain its monopoly, and add to its arsenal of possible choke holds on increasingly vulnerable nations. Western Australia is perhaps ground zero in an apparent critical minerals war lying ever so eerily under the gaze of the public eye.’

China dominates world supplies of rare earths and long ago recognised their strategic significance. Former Chinese leader Den Xiaoping observed in 1992 that while the Middle East had oil, ‘China has rare earths’ ".

https://www.aspistrategist.org.au/beazley-says-rare-earth-processing-must-be-a-strategic-priority-for-australia/