SALLY SARA: Before arriving in Jakarta overnight, the Prime Minister squeezed in a quick visit to Western Australia where Labor cemented gains in this Federal Election. The Government held on to the seats that helped it win the 2022 election and added new seats including the new electorate of Bullwinkel. Federal Resources Minister, and Minister for Northern Australia is Madeleine King who hails from WA in the seat of Blair and is my guest this morning. Minister, welcome back to Radio National Breakfast. 

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Good morning, Sally, it's great to be here, but I'm the seat of Brand. Blair's in Queensland, I think. 

SALLY SARA: Brand, my apologies. 

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: It's okay. 

SALLY SARA: It is, you're right. This was the Prime Minister's 34th trip to WA as PM. How electorally important is the west to Labor? 

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Well, it's very important, not only electorally, of course, it's of vital importance to the whole economy given the resources sector in our north and also in our south. So you know, you can't underplay its importance. But I'd also point out that Perth is closer to Jakarta than it is to Canberra as the crow flies, so there's another really important reason the Prime Minister stops here is to demonstrate how Perth faces the Indian Ocean, we are that Indian Ocean gateway capital for the whole of the country to our very good friends and neighbours in the north and Indonesia. 

SALLY SARA: One of the big election issues in WA also sits in your portfolio area, which is Woodside's Northwest Shelf gas project. Given how strongly the independent, Kate Hewlett campaigned against this extension does Labor's close call in Fremantle send you a message about this project? 

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: The main thing to be aware of around the Northwest Shelf extension application is it has to go through due process, and that is precisely what is happening. It happened in the term we've just seen go by, and it will happen now under incoming Minister Senator Watt. So that's what's really important to concentrate on. The Northwest Shelf has been an economic driver for Western Australia for a number of years, it has employed many, many thousands of Western Australians, it's important to us as a supplier of energy and heat stock for industry, and it will continue to be. So it is really important that the extension is done in accordance with the law, that the application, sorry, is done in accordance with the law, and that is exactly what Minister Plibersek was doing, and it's exactly what Minister Watt will continue to do. 

SALLY SARA: When will a decision be made about the extension? 

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Well, and I know the Prime Minister said this, and I'm going to repeat it, because Murray just got sworn in the same day as I did a couple of days ago, so he will no doubt be receiving those briefings right now, and that will progress. But it's a departmental activity, of course, too, right, so after the six years it was with the State and with the proponent, it's now with the Federal Government, and the Department will work through it, as it should, in an orderly fashion. It's a big project, there's no doubt about that, and all things must be considered legally. 

SALLY SARA: As you were saying, the approvals process has taken six years already to get to this point. Labor had promised in its first term to reform the laws to make this process better for everyone but failed to do so. Will you get that task done this time, reforming those laws? 

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: I think we were pretty determined to do it in the last term, but that progress was stymied by the Liberal Opposition and the Greens Political Party, and I think what we've seen from the election result is that continual blocking is not what Australians want to see, they do want to see progress in Parliament and reform take place. So I know what Minister Watt will do is exactly as the Prime Minister foreshadowed in the election is redouble our efforts around consultation with industry, with environmental groups, with the general public, and we will achieve that reform, and it's so important to achieve that reform for the environment itself, but also for industry. They want certainty. State Governments, of course here in WA, but right around the Territory Governments also want certainty as well. So there's much to be gained in undertaking this reform and doing it in a productive and efficient manner, and I know that's what will happen. 

SALLY SARA: Can the Government guarantee that it will get those changes through in this second term? 

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: I don't want to guarantee anything, but you know, we do have a situation with a different Parliament where, you know, I think the electorate itself has indicated to our Opposition parties, the Liberals and the Nationals as well the Greens Political Party, that they do want certainty in government, and that they do want a government that is in a position to legislate, but what's really important is the consultation that will happen are industry, with environment groups and all stakeholders. But I'm confident we'll get that reform done, because we need to, for the environment, but also for the industry itself. 

SALLY SARA: You're listening to Radio National Breakfast, and my guest is the Federal Minister for Resources and Northern Australia, Madeleine King. If the Northwest Shelf extension is approved, Minister, that gas‑fill will be producing and exporting gas into the 2070s. In your view does there come a point where Australia doesn't need to or shouldn't export fossil fuels? 

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: We're pretty clear on the Future Gas Strategy, which we worked on in the last term of Parliament, about the role of gas into the future. And that's based on widespread consultation with many groups, bringing together a lot of the analysis of different reports and different studies over many years. And it says the role - what we believe the role of gas is, it places it in that drive to net zero, and no government has done that before we have done that. And so it's an important roadmap for where gas sits, and it will back up renewables. We want to transform our economy, our country into that renewable energy powerhouse, and we have more choices than other countries; we have a lot more land, we have a lot more sun, we have less people, we have less housing density, so we have greater opportunities to have more renewables in our system and to be powered by renewables. That is not the case for export partners in Japan and in Korea, where they simply don't have the space we have, they don't have the sun or the wind power, so they will need more access to gas for longer than maybe Australia will. And I would know, and I've said this many times before, countries like Japan and Korea have been on a trajectory to net zero well before the Australian Government got on that. After the 10 years of denial and neglect under the Coalition, which looks set to continue by all accounts, you know, our Australian Government failed to do that, but Japan and Korea and others have done so, and I respect their decision, and I'm going to work with them to see how they lower emissions, which they're actively engaged in. But it's fair to say those countries will probably need to use fossil fuels to support that renewables vision for longer than we will. 

SALLY SARA: Last time you were on the program, we discussed - we were talking about the plans for a critical minerals stockpile. The election has now taken place. You're only just a couple of days on from returning from Yarralumla. When will we see action on this front with the critical minerals stockpile? 

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Well, of course we're working on that straight away, but I mean, it's not just a stockpile, it's a strategic reserve with offtake agreements as well as a selective stockpile, but the strategic reserve is just - it's a really important element, but it is just one important element. We've got the critical minerals strategy that we've developed in the last term, Critical Minerals Development Programs, international partnership programs $3 billion into resourcing Australia's prosperity, $17 billion into a production tax incentive scheme, the NAIF critical minerals carveout as well as the critical minerals facility. So all of this combined comes together to meet the challenges of building a critical minerals industry, and that really is Australia's down payment on leading globally in critical minerals and rare earth. The strategic reserve is a really important part of that, but it goes alongside those six or seven other things I just mentioned that we have developed over the last three years. 

SALLY SARA: Minister, thank you for your time on Breakfast this morning. 

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Any time, Sally. 

SALLY SARA: That's Madeleine King, Minister for Resources and Northern Australia.