SALLY SARA: As the US prepares to increase tariffs on steel and aluminium from 25 per cent to 50 per cent, the Albanese Government says it will, quote "coolly and calmly argue its case to the Trump Administration". It comes as the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, is expected to have his first meeting with the US President at the G7 in Canada later this month. Australian exporters have been sweating on a breakthrough in tariff negotiations and for Australia to secure some kind of exemption. The Resources Minister, Madeleine King, is my guest this morning. 

Minister, welcome back to Radio National Breakfast.

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Good morning, Sally, and happy WA Day from here in Perth.

SALLY SARA: Thank you. What's your reaction to this announcement over the weekend from Donald Trump of a doubling of tariffs on steel and aluminium?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Well, clearly this is not good for industry or for the wider, you know, global trading order that has benefited Australia so greatly for so many years. It is, and as the Prime Minister has said, it's unjustified and not the way to treat a friend and an ally. But more importantly, we are going to continue to engage and strongly advocate for the removal of these tariffs. It's a difficult time in global trade and the truth is, and everyone has heard this before, this is just a cost on consumers in the US, the tariffs get applied at their border and therefore the cost goes into their domestic system as opposed to ours. So, we'll keep working calmly and methodically through these issues with our friends in the US but fair to say, it's disappointing.

SALLY SARA: How confident are you that the Prime Minister will be able to have face to face discussions with Donald Trump on the sidelines at the G7?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: I'm very confident that will happen. But, you know, these things are complex and the G7 is a huge meeting in Canada with lots of side meetings, you know, just between the G7 members themselves. But really importantly for Australia is it is there. And we do attend as an invited guest to the G7 and take part in a lot of discussions with the Trump Administration, of course, but also with other leaders of those G7 countries. And each of them are very important to Australia's ongoing trade and international relationship. So, there's a lot of, a lot to be gained from being in the room with the G7 members and talking to them about the tariff situation, the global trade more widely, but also other disputes around the world that are causing angst.

SALLY SARA: Has there been any evidence of attempted dumping of cheap steel or aluminium in Australia since the original tariffs first took effect earlier this year?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: That's something, you know, obviously we're very - we are keeping an eye on and the anti-dumping measures in this country are really important to maintain because we do need to make sure our own steel makers, which have had their struggles, as we all know, through Whyalla Steel, they're able to keep doing what they do and compete fairly in our own market. And so you see, that's something that's under continuous monitoring.

SALLY SARA: Have we seen that yet?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: No, I don't believe we have. But these are things - and with these imports, you know, there is some argument around the levels of what is coming in. But the main thing is those things that are imported are subject to particular standards, of course, to make sure they're safe for use in this country. But we have an eagle eye out to make sure that that kind of dumping does not happen because it's just not appropriate and it's no good for local industry, let alone the safety measures that have to apply to products that come into this country.

SALLY SARA: You're listening to Radio National Breakfast and you're hearing from the Federal Resources Minister, Madeleine King. Last week, Murray Watt, the new Environment Minister, gave conditional approval for the extension of Woodside's North West Shelf project in your home state of WA. What's the message that the government is trying to send on the future of gas in Australia's energy transition?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Well, Minister Watts has done some very important work, and that follows on from the work of Minister Plibersek before in examining the application for the extension of the North West Shelf facility, which is an existing facility. It's really important that everyone's aware that the North West Shelf is required to meet net zero emissions by 2050 under our safeguard mechanism. So, they are obliged to bring down their emissions. And that's law in this country, thanks to the laws we passed under the Albanese Labor Government in our first term. For the role of gas in the ongoing transition and our energy mix that is set out really comprehensively in the Future Gas Strategy that we released in the last term. And that strategy itself was based on extensive consultation and research and the bringing together of a plethora of reports over a number of years that talk about the use of gas, supply of gas, cost of gas, where it's extracted from. What was really important about the Future Gas Strategy was setting up - or establishing, sorry - the role of gas within this government's drive to reach net zero emissions by 2050. And that's what the gas strategy does, and it's consistent with the conditional approval by Minister Watt. But I would note that there's still a little way to go on that process with the Minister.

SALLY SARA: Does the government plan to introduce its new environmental laws to Parliament before the end of this calendar year?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Oh, look, I'm going to - I'm going to leave that to Minister Watt. There's a bit of work to be done there, consultations included. It's certainly a priority of government to reform the EPBC laws. We are creating the legislative timetable now, so I-

SALLY SARA: Would that be the hope?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: I'm not going to commit to a time without consulting with my colleague Murray Watt, but certainly it's very high on the priority list. But equally we do - we have said, and the Prime Minister said, and Minister Watt has said, we are going to consult more extensively. So, if that has to take a little bit more time, then that's not necessarily a bad thing. We do want the input of the community more widely as well as, of course, industry to make sure these laws are appropriate. And they really need to be thought through. Not with delay, with haste, but not overly hasty because you need to get them right. And we need to have these reforms in place for the benefit of the environment, but also so that industry can, you know, be productive.

SALLY SARA: Meanwhile, the UN looks set to knock back Australia's bid to add a large area of ancient rock art in WA's north to the World Heritage List, citing concerns about emissions degrading Aboriginal carvings and art near Karratha. UNESCO's draft decision has been referred back to the Federal Government. What is the government doing about this warning from UNESCO?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Well, we will keep discussing this with the World Heritage Centre and UNESCO. Obviously, it's disappointing that that draft decision has come out and, you know, we understand that there was consultation with the local indigenous groups, so we'll keep working with UNESCO and others around that listing. It is important to note that those industries are important to jobs in the region. They're obviously important to our export industry as well. But I think what we really need to make sure is that UNESCO get the fuller picture of that area.

SALLY SARA: Resources Minister Madeleine King, thank you for your time this morning again on Radio National Breakfast.

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Thanks very much, Sally.

SALLY SARA: That's Madeleine King there.