Interview with Aaron Stevens, 4RO Breakfast
Website search Interviewer Aaron Stevens Manufacturing, Central Queensland, gas reservation scheme. AARON STEVENS, HOST: The Minister for Industry and Innovation, Minister for Science, Senator Tim Ayres has spent the last couple of days in Gladstone talking about the $15 billion dollar National Reconstruction Fund. Let's get some more details on that Fund and what happened over the last couple of days in Gladstone.
Senator Ayres, hello. SENATOR TIM AYRES, MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY AND INNOVATION AND MINISTER FOR SCIENCE: Aaron, really good to be on the show. Good to talk to your listeners too, and good to spend some time in Gladstone as well.
Gladstone's a terrific town. I've been a regular visitor there since well before the Albanese Government was elected. This is the beating heart of Central Queensland's industrial capability sitting in the heart of this big energy district.
It's got a big industrial future. The reason I wanted to bring the National Reconstruction Fund Board to meet in Gladstone and to meet with local engineering businesses is because I want to make sure that we're not just in the regions, investing in the regions. But also, that these people from Canberra and Sydney and Melbourne see what the capability is and the genius of these engineering firms and industrial firms and what they can achieve for Australia.
That's brilliant because we often say we feel forgotten and considering we are the hub of industry and we provide so much for the country, we do feel forgotten sometimes. Well, there's big steps already underway. I mean the Fund itself has already invested into Alpha HPA which will be the world's largest high purity alumina plant.
That is a proud moment for Central Queensland – that while we've got old technology here, we're also investing in technology that's going to drive the future. And there'll be jobs, good blue-collar and engineering and production jobs in that facility. The Boyne Smelter deal that the Albanese Government and the Crisafulli Government have done together that'll underwrite billions of dollars’ worth – $7.5 billion worth – of new electricity generation in Queensland.
And deliver security for that facility well into the 2040s, as far as the eye can see, that underwrites investment in this region for decades to come. That's the Albanese Government delivering on our Future Made in Australia agenda. So, we've made good steps but there's so much more to do.
So much more investment and capability is possible and that's what Future Made in Australia is all about. : Who did you attract to these meetings over the last couple of days in Gladstone? Which areas? : Well, the Gladstone Engineering Alliance sent along a team of a dozen or so firms who were engaged directly with the Fund. I spent my time doing an inspection of Alpha HPA and I'm really pleased with the progress in construction of stage 2 of that project.
It is of course linked to the Orica facility across the road. There'll be, like many of these great industrial areas, a symbiotic relationship with other firms in the area. That underscores why the other big step that we've taken in manufacturing for Australia, the gas reservation plan which will be coming to the Parliament soon to reserve Australian gas – up to 20 per cent of Australian export gas for Australian industry.
That's driving the lower cost gas to drive investment in current facilities but also to make sure that we've got an industrial future. That's a big, bold step. Some of the gas production industry isn't very enthusiastic about it, I can tell you that.
But it's the right thing to do for Australia. It'll be coming to the Parliament soon. Australian gas for Australian industry and Australian households.
That'll benefit firms like Orica and other big gas users in your region. : Yeah, well done. So, you've spoken a little bit about the future but where do you see the future of industry in Central Queensland? Well, the big opportunities for us in Australia are where we can drive into new industry areas like critical metals and critical minerals.
I'm really pleased with the Boyne Smelter deal, securing the future of aluminium smelting in Australia, closely followed by the intervention in Tomago which does basically the same thing. Underwrites investment in new electricity generation, delivers a long-term power purchasing agreement for those facilities. And we have, you know, one of the world's only end-to-end aluminium production chains from bauxite all the way through to finished aluminium products and advanced manufacturing aluminium products.
That's a key national asset, that's important for our future resilience. Just the same in critical metals, turning our critical minerals onshore, adding value into critical metals to make sure that we are not just growing in size and economic growth and delivering good blue-collar jobs in the regions, but making Australia more resilient and stronger for the future. : Good to see you pointing in that direction.
How can people find out more about the $15 billion dollar National Reconstruction Fund? : Well, jump onto the net, grab the search engine of your choice. Look up National Reconstruction Fund or Future Made in Australia. I mean we have the biggest pro-manufacturing policy platform of any government in Australian history.
The Albanese Government, we're unashamedly putting our shoulder behind the wheel for manufacturing in blue-collar jobs in the regions. This Fund is all about making sure that inventions and production processes invented here in Australia are turned into commercial production and manufacturing in Australia rather than going offshore. You know, we have invented so much here in Australia, but the track record over the last 40 years of Australia commercialising these inventions and turning them into mass production is not as good.
Solar is a good example, you know, invented in Australia. Solar PV, invented by Australian scientists at Australian universities and in the CSIRO. It's not manufactured here at large scale.
We're going to bring some of that manufacturing back. But really, what are the inventions and capabilities of the future? Look at Alpha HPA, for example.
That's Australian IP, Australian inventions, new production processes being commercialised here in Australia and working with our partners overseas to make sure that there is a market for these products, that we're building more resilient supply chains, making Australia stronger. You've seen over the course of the last 12 months the impact of the war in the Strait of Hormuz and the relationships that the Government has established, strengthened relationships in the region that mean that we've been able to secure fuel and fertiliser in a crisis where that wasn't assured – Yeah.
One of the things we learned during COVID was the importance of industry at home. Tim Ayres, really appreciate your time this morning. Glad you enjoyed your time in Central Queensland. : Always do, thanks Aaron.
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