Opposition to the Fingerboards Project has dropped to just 11 per cent down from 30 per cent (November 2025) as locals name jobs and economic growth as primary drivers for support.
According to a new Redbridge survey (August 2026) of more than 500 people across Wellington and East Gippsland Councils, 47 per cent now support the project, up from 44 per cent in November 2025. A further 28 per cent are neutral, while 14 per cent remain unsure.
Gippsland Critical Minerals (GCM) Chief Executive Officer Michelle Wood said the attitude towards the project has shifted in line with concerns about a lack of local jobs and economic growth.
“Support for the project is now more than four times higher than opposition which is a positive reflection of the work we have done to rescope the project in line with community expectations”.
Michelle Wood
“It is also clear that the community is responding to a need for jobs and initiatives such as our recent demonstration pit which created work for more than 20 businesses and invested more than $1.4m and are seeing opportunity for themselves and the region”, Ms Wood said.
Redbridge Group Director Kos Samaras said support for Fingerboards needed to be understood in the context of a regional community under growing pressure.
Around 19 per cent of locals named closure of local businesses and unemployment as their top concerns facing the region, followed by roads and infrastructure (18 per cent) and crime and safety (16 per cent).
“These findings paint a clear picture of a community worried about the basics: safe roads, reliable infrastructure, community safety, affordable housing, businesses closing and secure jobs,” Mr Samaras said.
“When secure jobs disappear, young people leave, local businesses lose customers, families come under greater pressure and already stretched services are asked to do more.
“That context is vital to understanding attitudes towards Fingerboards.”
Around seven out of ten East Gippslanders said they support the development of new critical minerals projects in Australia while 44 per cent said GCM should prioritise ‘keeping minerals in Australia’.
“If in production today, Fingerboards would contribute between 40-50 per cent of ex-China production of the world’s dysprosium and terbium oxide supply,” said GCM’s East Gippsland Community and Stakeholder Lead Mick Harrington.
“As one of only three critical minerals projects in Victoria with no Chinese ownership or offtake, this will help secure the Australian supply chain for defence, intelligence and medical technology.”
“We should be proud of this. East Gippsland has fed the country, powered the state and supported generations of working families and critical minerals give us the opportunity to build on that legacy, create good jobs close to home and make East Gippsland part of Australia’s future.”
Subject to approval, Fingerboards will support up to 400 jobs during construction and around 300 ongoing jobs, contribute $90 million a year to the regional economy and help secure Australia’s critical minerals future.
Key Stats (Redbridge Report, September 2026)
- Opposition to the Fingerboards Project has dropped to just 11 per cent, down from 30 per cent (November 2025)
- Support has risen from 44 per cent in November 2025 to 47 per cent in August 2026. A further 28 per cent are neutral, while 14 per cent remain unsure.
- More than 35 per cent cite jobs and economic contribution as the main factors driving support or opposition to the development of the project.
- When asked about their top 3 priorities for how the project should be developed: 50 per cent said local jobs, 44 per cent said keeping minerals in Australia, 40 per cent how landowners were compensated, 34 per cent said how water is used/ effective land rehabilitation.
- When asked what the number one issue facing East Gippsland are, locals said roads and local infrastructure (18 per cent), crime and community safety (16 per cent), housing affordability (12 per cent), closure of local businesses and industry (10 per cent), and unemployment (9 per cent).
- If in production today, Fingerboards would contribute between 40-50% of the ex-China supply of heavy rare earths, dysprosium and terbium.
