JOURNALIST: Your response to the Fair Work Commission ruling for BHP?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: The Fair Work Commission has since made a decision related to the same job same pay legislation. Anthony Albanese’s Labor Government believes that workers that stand alongside one another and do the same job with the same conditions with the same qualifications should be paid the same. This is only fair. And so, I support the decision of the Fair Work Commission. But importantly, I want to, you know, remind everybody that Labor in opposition went to the 2022 election with the same jobs same pay policy that was endorsed at that election by the Australian people. And of course more recently we had the 2025 election which was an overwhelming endorsement of the policies of the Albanese Labor Government. So, the Fair Work Commission decision today just demonstrates that the laws that we brought in that ensure fairness in workplaces right across the country where people working alongside each other, doing the exact same job get the same pay, are working. So, I'm very supportive of this decision.

JOURNALIST: The Minerals Council of Australia are disappointed. They've said that this is an example of unintended consequences and are calling for a legislative fix. Do you think the laws are working as they should?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: It is entirely an intended consequence of this law that people doing the same job alongside one another get paid the same amount and get the same conditions. So, I'm not sure of the unintended consequences the Minerals Council are talking about. No doubt they'll speak to Minister Rishworth about that in due course. Parts of the industry have railed against this policy, and they can do that for as long as they want. But it is the policy of this government. It is the law of the land, and the Fair Work Commission has backed it in.

JOURNALIST: Do you think this diminishes competitiveness … ?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Absolutely not. What this does is improve morale in the Workplace. We've seen some really distressing situations in the coal industry of Queensland in particular, where some people are getting paid $30,000 less per year than someone standing alongside them because of the way a company has initiated its corporate structure and pay structure. So, I think it's good that this comes to an end and I think the company concerned will no doubt work productively with its workforce to ensure that everyone gets paid fairly and gets the same amount of salary and conditions for the same job. This is what Australians expect. It is only fair. We've gone to two elections which we have won with this policy, if not front and centre, certainly very obvious and part of our Labor commitment to the Australian workers.

JOURNALIST: Is the Federal Government prepared to step in if BHP were to start axing jobs?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: The Australian Government will hear from anyone who wants to talk to us about what the Minerals Council have said are unintended consequences and others may do that as well. If that is seen to be the case, which is not showing at the moment I believe anyway. You know, we'll look at things but that is entirely reasonable. We are a reasonable government. BHP will make its decisions. It made a corporate decision to set up this structure many years ago. It will have to adjust that approach.

JOURNALIST: Do you think this is a significant landmark case [indistinct] at the moment. Do you think this is putting companies on notice to fix it themselves, or?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: I mean the legislation itself surely puts them on notice that workers doing the same job should get paid the same amount of money and have the same conditions. So, if it's a landmark case, then the legislation of course is landmark. But if a landmark in fairness is what we've achieved, then I am all for that without a shadow of a doubt. So, I think it is an entirely good thing. But we will work with anyone, whether it be workers representatives, the unions, the companies themselves, representative groups of those companies, to address if they do in fact come to us with unintended consequences. I don't believe that this is one of those.

JOURNALIST: And just on the ancient rock art. Are you confident that Australia would secure a UNESCO World Heritage listing?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Look, I'm really hopeful. It's quite a complex process. Minister Watt is working very hard on it, and his team and with Minister Swinbourn as well from the Western Australian Government. A lot of this information has been put towards UNESCO, but we're very supportive of the Murujuga Aboriginal Corporation and their wishes. And it's their wishes that are most important to me as a Minister and also to Minister Watt and the Australian Government that they do want to see this rock art put onto that world listing.

I sense we are about to close, I just want to say a word about the Geological Survey of Western Australia. This organisation has been collecting samples of rock since 1888, much of which is behind us now and some in Kalgoorlie. It is not only a vital asset to the Western Australian people, it's a national asset. And the work that goes on here in this centre, out in Carlisle and the workers that are here today and the researchers that come and visit and do their work, the pre-competitive data they collect with the Geological Survey, working with Geoscience Australia, it tells us what we're made of as a country. It tells us our prospects for our future. It has built our current lifestyle in terms of the exploration and the mining  that is built on top of that. So, I don't want anyone to leave here without any doubt how vitally important the work of GSWA is. And investment in technology like the Hylogger that we've seen today, is vital to our ongoing not only Western Australian prosperity, but national prosperity.

Thank you.