Interview with James Glenday and Emma Rebellato, ABC TV News Breakfast

Website search Interviewer James Glenday and Emma Rebellato Tomago Aluminium Now $2.5 billion of taxpayer money will be used to keep Australia's largest aluminium smelter running under a joint deal between the Federal and NSW governments. The bailout comes after Tomago Aluminium owners Rio Tinto warned that it would close over rising energy costs with smelter using more than 10% of the overall power supply in NSW.

Tomago employs about 1,000 people with the government saying up to 5,000 indirect jobs will also be affected. Industry Minister Tim Ayres joins us now from outside the Tomago Aluminium smelter in the Hunter region of NSW. Minister, thanks for your time.

SENATOR TIM AYRES, MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY AND INNOVATION AND MINISTER FOR SCIENCE: Emma, G’day. Really good to be on the show. So, $2.5 billion between the Federal and NSW Governments.

What conditions do Rio Tinto have to meet here to guarantee that they'll stay? Well, that means that this facility will be operating all the way through to 2039. That is, that means investment in the 1,100 or so direct jobs here, but 5,500 jobs right through the Hunter Valley.

It really means investment as far as the eye can see in industrial capability here as a result of the Albanese Labor Government working with the Minns NSW Government to deliver a security for this facility and a power purchasing agreement that goes to the heart of the electricity competitiveness challenge. It's good news for this facility but it brings forward 3 GW of investment in new electricity generation.

So, it's good news for, for customers and for businesses right across Australia. Yeah, let's just go into that a bit more because at the time Rio Tinto cited the rising cost of renewable also coal fired coal fired power. So, exactly how is this being addressed with this?

Can I correct one thing there Emma? What the owners of this facility have made very clear is it's the high cost of coal power that is the problem for this facility and that the only solution was to bring forward investment in new renewables, wind and solar backed by storage and gas to deliver lower cost-efficient electricity for this system. It's the last 10 years before this government was elected of underinvestment in the electricity system that made this uncompetitive and the solution led here by the Albanese Labor Government is investment in new electricity generation.

That's good for this facility but it's good for all Australians as well. The Federal Government spending well over a billion dollars on this. Where's the money coming from?

How are you going to pay for it? This will be accounted for in the budget. We made it clear when we made a commitment in 2023.

I think it was, just casting back, that that we would deliver a transformation package for the Australian aluminium industry. Aluminium is a crucial national asset for Australia. We're one of the only economies in the world that has an end-to-end aluminium capability.

From bauxite mining through to aluminium processing and facilities like this one, Australia's youngest and largest aluminium facility all the way through to advanced manufacturing, defence energy products. That aluminium is absolutely crucial for here in Australia in the global economy. It's vital for our national economic resilience and it's vital for good blue-collar jobs in regions like the Hunter Valley.

Not long ago the NSW Premier Chris Minns was pushing back on an even funding split. What did you have to do to get NSW over the line? I'm really pleased with where we've got to.

This is an arrangement with NSW, an equal contribution from both governments. It supports jobs here in the Hunter. It's good for the NSW economy.

It makes it more robust, more productive, more innovative. Delivers on the jobs front. It delivers on the electricity front.

This is good locally. Good for NSW and vital for Australia. I'm really pleased with where the two governments have got to over what has been a discussion over a complex and large deal that has taken many months to secure a final outcome.

The Government's coughed up billions. Now there have been a lot of other bailouts. You've got the Boyne smelter, Whyalla steelworks, Glencore's copper smelter refinery in Mount Isa, Nyrstar.

Is there an end point here? All of these arrangements are in the national interest. We are operating in an environment where Australia's industrial capability, our heavy manufacturing capability is vital for our future national security, for our national economic resilience and the future made in Australia.

Investments from the Albanese Government make Australia stronger. They make Australia more secure. They deliver thousands and thousands of jobs in regions that need economic security.

Thousands and thousands of apprenticeships over the coming decades that will make Australia a stronger and fairer and more secure place to live. Industry Minister Tim Ayres. Thanks for your time.

Thanks, Emma. The Department of Industry, Science and Resources recognises the First Peoples of this Nation and their ongoing cultural and spiritual connections to the lands, waters, seas, skies, and communities. We Acknowledge First Nations Peoples as the Traditional Custodians and Lore Keepers of the oldest living culture and pay respects to their Elders past and present.

We extend that respect to all First Nations Peoples. Stay informed of the latest ministry list on the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet website This website is managed by the Department of Industry, Science and Resources