1. FOR those tempted to view the free trade agreement to be signed today by Trade Minister Craig
Emerson and his Malaysian counterpart Mustapa Mohamed as a business nirvana, Nick Curtis
has a cautionary tale.
The Sydney-based executive chairman of Lynas Corporation has spent $700 million and seven
years building and getting approvals for a plant on Malaysia's east coast to process rare earths
from its mine at Mount Weld, 30km north of Laverton in Western Australia.
Mr Curtis thought the final of many approvals had been given by the Atomic Energy Licensing
Agency in January, but the Malaysian government is withholding the permit for the factory to
start operating. A parliamentary committee has been set up by Prime Minister Najib Razak to
consider the project.
The committee was focused on the process of the approvals, which Mr Curtis said Lynas had
entirely fulfilled. In late 2007, Lynas received the tick from the environmental and other
regulatory authorities, and started building the plant.
``It's a 30-40 year commitment to the country at least. You don't build and then seek
environmental approval. We have gained the permissions, spent the money, and are now
wondering where the goal posts really are, because they've moved,'' Mr Curtis said.
The factory is the subject of demonstrations led by local opposition MP Fuziah Salleh that have
gained considerable traction in an election year in which the government faces the prospect of
defeat for the first time since independence 55 years ago.
``Fear is a powerful political tool, and they say that we are going to irradiate Malaysia. We are
asked why we don't build our factory in Australia instead,'' Mr Curtis said.
``But this is a crude question to ask in the context of a globalised economy. We chose Malaysia
because of its infrastructure, its cost, its industrial experience and its proximity to markets, as a
good global destination. And we've found the Malaysian people and environment extremely
positive to work with.''
He said that Lynas has already employed 350 people, all of whom are Malaysian. The mine at
Mount Weld is stockpiling its output of concentrate, waiting for the factory to start functioning.
He said FTAs ``are only as good as governments' willingness in these countries to play by their
own rules, to operate according to their own laws''.
The opposition on environmental grounds is especially frustrating, he said, because the plant's
products were parts of the ``green supply chain'' -- as essential elements in catalytic converters
and electric cars among other technologies.