“Australia has dropped the ball on exploration over the last decade, losing around 40 percent of its global market share and surrendering its reputation as one of the most attractive destinations for new investment," Roche said.

“If governments want to sustain the employment and tax revenue momentum of the past few years we need to ensure that rapidly maturing large-scale mines in Queensland are replaced."

Roche said it was also important that the Federal Government put more emphasis on clean coal.

“In the context of an economy valued at more than $1 trillion a year, one has to ask if a $500 million federal government contribution for low emission coal technology [in] Australia meets the national interest test for long-term energy security," he said.

Roche said that, while progress has been made on carbon capture and storage technology, Australia still needed to locate and develop underground reservoirs where liquefied gases could be stored for tens of thousands of years.

At the same time Roche said the Federal Budget should commit to export infrastructure audits and provide a pool of funds to address areas of "market failure" through direct investment.

“From Mount Isa to Cape York through to Gladstone and the energy hubs of the Bowen and Surat basins, potential needs to be matched with the ability to deliver the commodities our global customers require,” he said.

“Government attitudes to infrastructure investment need to return to their more traditional roots of providing incentives to people willing to have a go and build for the future."