Conversely, then, would we have been able to create the building blocks needed to get the ball rolling without government investment? I'm talking about lithium and the various steps in the chain of production. Right now, the investment isn't there. There's been no investment in production.
The timeline for a mining company wanting to set up here is still pretty lengthy, considerable—staggering even. If production starts in five or seven years, there's no guarantee that it will be possible to operate the mine, because it takes about a decade to go from mineral exploration to mining the raw material.
In short, could it have been developed without the buyer? When it comes to international production, shouldn't we prioritize foundational investments instead of investing at the end? A return on investment is never guaranteed, as you mentioned.