Premier Roger Cook has launched a new State of Energy Campaign positioning Western Australia as a global energy powerhouse, unveiling the initiative at Energy Exchange Australia, the country’s premier energy supply chain event held annually at the Perth Convention and Exhibition Centre. The campaign is designed to build both international investor confidence and domestic public understanding of WA’s energy transition, a dual audience the government says is essential for a shift of this scale to succeed.

This year’s Energy Exchange Australia, themed around transitioning to a decarbonised future, drew more than 220 exhibitors and 170 speakers across its three-day program, underscoring the scale of commercial and policy interest in WA’s evolving energy sector from both domestic and international participants.

Why WA Is Positioning Itself as an Energy Powerhouse

The campaign, led by the Department of Energy and Economic Diversification, aims to promote WA on the global stage as a destination for energy investment while simultaneously building local understanding and support for the practical changes the state’s energy transition will bring to households and businesses. That dual focus reflects a recognition within government that major infrastructure transitions succeed only with both capital investment and public buy-in, a lesson drawn from energy transitions attempted in other jurisdictions where public support lagged behind project timelines.

WA’s pitch to international investors rests on a combination of factors including the state’s abundant solar and wind resources, established expertise in large-scale energy project development built up over decades in the LNG sector, and a state government increasingly willing to back major energy transition projects with direct funding and streamlined approval pathways.

Showcasing First Nations Participation

The event also featured the Aboriginal Business Pavilion, now in its fourth year at Energy Exchange Australia, showcasing the innovation and products of a dozen First Nations businesses operating within WA’s energy supply sector. The Pavilion included an original artwork, The Future of Renewable Energy, created by First Nations artists Buffie Punch and Dana Garlett in partnership with Aboriginal-led creative agency Nani Creative, depicting the balance between tradition and innovation in building a sustainable energy future.

The continued prominence of Aboriginal business representation at WA’s flagship energy industry event reflects a broader push within the sector to ensure First Nations businesses and communities share meaningfully in the economic opportunities created by the state’s energy transition, rather than the benefits flowing primarily to established, non-Indigenous industry players alone.

What the Campaign Aims to Achieve

Beyond the launch event itself, the State of Energy Campaign is intended to run as an ongoing public communication effort, promoting WA’s energy credentials to international audiences while building sustained domestic understanding of the state’s energy transition over the coming years. Government officials have framed the campaign as complementary to the substantive infrastructure investment already underway, rather than a substitute for it, arguing that effective communication and genuine project delivery need to work in tandem for the transition to succeed.

Context Within WA’s Broader Energy Strategy

The campaign launch comes amid a broader wave of WA energy sector activity, spanning major hydrogen projects like H2Kwinana, critical minerals processing investment, and the newly passed State Development Bill designed to fast-track approvals for strategically significant clean energy and defence manufacturing projects. Taken together, these initiatives reflect a state government betting heavily on energy transition and diversification as the next major pillar of WA’s economy, building on, rather than replacing, the state’s existing strength in traditional resources exports.

What Comes Next

With the campaign now launched, its effectiveness will likely be measured over coming years by whether it translates into tangible new investment decisions and project commitments, rather than through the campaign’s messaging alone. For now, the strong exhibitor and speaker turnout at this year’s Energy Exchange Australia suggests genuine commercial interest already exists in WA’s energy sector, giving the new campaign a receptive audience to build upon as it continues rolling out.

Exhibitors at this year’s event spanned the full breadth of the energy supply chain, from established oil and gas majors exploring decarbonisation pathways through to early-stage renewable technology developers pitching to investors, reflecting the genuinely transitional moment WA’s energy sector currently occupies between its established fossil fuel export base and its emerging clean energy ambitions.

International delegations attending the conference reportedly included representatives from prospective export markets across Asia and Europe, giving WA officials direct opportunities to advance conversations around future hydrogen, critical minerals and green iron trade relationships alongside the campaign’s broader promotional goals.

Business groups have generally welcomed the campaign as a useful complement to the substantive project pipeline already underway, while noting that sustained investor confidence will ultimately depend on WA’s major energy projects reaching successful operational milestones rather than promotional messaging alone.

Next year’s event is already being planned as an even larger showcase, with organisers hoping to build on this year’s strong turnout as WA’s energy transition projects move further from planning and feasibility toward genuine construction and operation.