ORTENZIA BORRE: Joining me live now is Anthony Chisholm, Labor Senator for Queensland. Senator, thank you for your time this morning. Now you're in Cloncurry for a few reasons. Let's start with the opening of the new Coppermine Creek Bridge. It's an $8.5 million project under the Safer Local Roads and Infrastructure program.

ANTHONY CHISHOLM: Yeah, a really important local asset. It's actually just around the corner here and just off the main street in Cloncurry and it's been a single lane bridge for almost 100 years. And I had a look this morning and it's double-laned and brand new and a $5 million commitment from the Federal Government, but a $3.5 million commitment from the council and that's a significant amount for a council like this in Cloncurry. But it's going to be around for a long time to come, and an important asset for the local community to improve connectivity and safety in this part of the world.

ORTENZIA BORRE: Absolutely. And the third annual Meeting of the Mines conference now that's taking place from today, what can we expect will come out of that?

ANTHONY CHISHOLM: Yeah, it's a big weekend here in Cloncurry and the Meeting of the Mines is on today, which I'm looking forward to speaking at this morning. And this area has got a long history of mining, so there's been mines that have been operating here for more than 100 years. But we do know that it's got a vast amount of critical resources and rare earths. So, we're confident that it's got a really bright future and it fits with the agenda that the Federal Government are pursuing around critical minerals and rare earths and their demand around the world and their importance to renewable energy and future technology at the same time.

So, we know that there's been a lot of jobs created and a lot of wealth created. But I know that there'll be a lot of focus today on what the future looks like and the role the Federal Government can play to support these communities and also those organisations that are looking at building new resource projects in this part of the world, which is really important to the north west and also the supply chain through Townsville as well.

ORTENZIA BORRE: Now Senator, earlier this week you attended a Resources Minister's Roundtable in Brisbane. Can you take us through some of the negotiations that are currently underway between Glencore as well as the Federal and State Governments regarding the future of the Mount Isa Mines' copper operations?

ANTHONY CHISHOLM: It's obviously a really important issue in Mount Isa. Unfortunately, my plane got delayed last night so I didn't get the chance to catch up with some of the workers from the smelter. But hopefully I'll be able to do that this afternoon when I'm back in Mount Isa. So, it's obviously a really important asset to this community, but also it does have a supply chain that runs all the way through to Townsville and supports thousands of jobs. So, we know that it's an important sovereign capability, but it's also important for the regional community and the jobs that it creates as well.

We're working constructively with the State Government and Glencore at the same time. We understand that it has been going through a difficult period. Glencore is a company that's done very well out of Australia. They're highly profitable. So, we call on them to make sure they're doing the right thing and want to support the project. But as a Federal Government, we want to ensure that we're doing what we can to provide that support as well, so that this can continue to be an ongoing operation and support those jobs and communities. So, Minister Ayres, as the lead Minister on this, is working closely with the state government and Glencore, and we're hoping it will come to a resolution in the near future.

ORTENZIA BORRE: Senator Anthony Chisholm, thank you for your time this morning. Live for us there.

ANTHONY CHISHOLM: Thank you.