SENATOR TIM AYRES, MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY AND INNOVATION AND MINISTER FOR SCIENCE: Well, I'm very pleased to be here today to announce that the Albanese Government is fast-tracking the design process of our green aluminium production credits. It's a $2 billion package that is there to secure the future of the Australian aluminium industry; $2 billion for local Australian production in aluminium.

We have one of the world's only end-to-end aluminium production facilities. That is Australian bauxite, Australian alumina, Australian aluminium and Australian aluminium‑finished products right here in Australia, produced in facilities like this.

We are putting this process on the fast‑track, opening the design process today, closing it on October 30, [just before] Halloween for all the young viewers at home, and we are going to make sure that we do that in double‑quick time to deliver the certainty that facilities like this require.

This is a big investment, a cornerstone industrial investment in Central Queensland and Queensland's manufacturing capability. This government, the Albanese Government, has got the biggest pro-manufacturing package in Australian history. We've just delivered for Mount Isa and north‑west Queensland a very significant industrial package, and we are determined to make sure that areas like Central Queensland, the beating industrial heart of Queensland, have the support and the confidence that this great industrial centre needs to make progress for the future.

I've got local Mayor Matt Burnett with me. He'll make a couple of comments, then I'm very happy to take questions. 

MATT BURNETT, MAYOR OF GLADSTONE REGIONAL COUNCIL:  Lovely. Well, thanks, Tim. Where did he go?  There he is.

Look, fantastic to have the minister here again. Every time the government turn up at the moment, they're bringing money. Now $2 billion, there's four smelters in Australia and we will be the biggest if we get this in full production again, and that's going to happen when you have investment like this in aluminium industry, and as you said, the supply chain is right here in Australia, but it's also right here in Gladstone in Queensland. We get our bauxite from Weipa, we produce our alumina in Gladstone at QAL, and of course at Rio as well, and bring that alumina here right at Boyne Smelters. 

So you don't get a better example of how the complete supply chain happens than right here in Gladstone and Boyne Island, so we're rapt to see this $2 billion. Let's get on with it, and happy Halloween.

JOURNALIST: And, Matt, can I ask you something just quickly? 

BURNETT: Yes, you certainly can.

JOURNALIST: So what is this going to ‑ what does this mean for the Gladstone region?  Obviously, there's jobs potentially? 

BURNETT: Yes, absolutely. So, there's thousands of jobs in Rio Tinto, local businesses in Gladstone. So, what we want to see is the continued investment in the Boyne smelter, and we're seeing that. We're seeing continued investment in QAL, and people on the ground know that. Hundreds of millions of dollars being spent on that facility. And, of course, you've got the Rio Tinto facilities also partnering with Sumitomo and improving their facilities there as well. So, huge investment by the Rio Tinto companies in Gladstone, the largest, of course, employer in our region, and the confidence that that builds in our community is huge because someone will know everyone that works in a local industry and particularly know someone who works either at the port which exports and imports right around the world, but also exports this amazing product right here from Boyne smelter.

AYRES: That's alright. Can I just say while I've got the microphone, maybe looking at you this time just so I look startlingly different, also just wanted to use the opportunity with the microphone to pass on my congratulations to Scott Harrington, the CEO of Xtreme Engineering who was last night given the Gladstone Engineers Alliance greatest lifetime achievement award, their Hall of Fame award, for the leadership that he's provided in blue‑collar engineering and in particular delivering apprenticeships to girls and boys from right round this community. It's a terrific, a terrific moment for him and a bit of a sign of the confidence that this community's got in the sector. So, yes.

JOURNALIST: Well, obviously, you have this major announcement. Do you expect that this will bring more jobs to the region, especially when we've got big power stations like the Gladstone power station maybe shutting down, and that may cause some job loss in the area. Are you expecting clean energy to be the next big thing when it comes to jobs? 

AYRES: Well, this is a dynamic industrial economy operating in a volatile global trading environment, and what the Albanese Government is doing here is delivering certainty about our support for future aluminium production, which gives confidence to the big investors like Rio Tinto to make future investments and future certainty here. What I want to see is the small investments and the big investments that together accumulate to deliver new engineering projects, new production capability and certainty for the future of this region. 

JOURNALIST: And do you expect that this investment will bring in more money into the region as well? 

AYRES: Well, it's a $2 billion aluminium production credit package that is there to support Australian aluminium processing. That means more confidence, more investment, more good blue-collar jobs in this really important industrial region. 

JOURNALIST: And what assurances do you have that this funding will actually lead to lower emissions, not just higher profits for big producers? 

AYRES: What I see is Rio Tinto already investing in generation capability in Queensland, and it's that kind of investment that secures the future of this plant and all of the associated industrial infrastructure. So, we're already seeing really good progress led by Rio Tinto, with the Queensland Government, with the wind and solar developers, with the electricity providers, that is a good sign of progress. I'd like to see that spirit of progress and fighting for the future in every industrial facility and every smelter around Australia. 

JOURNALIST: And how will the government ensure small and medium manufacturers also benefit from this transition? 

AYRES: Well, the whole industrial ecosystem in this region relies upon facilities like this and QAL to drive investment and to drive work opportunities and engineering opportunities. This is the fulcrum of industrial investment in Queensland right here, and that's why we're delivering certainty through this aluminium production credit for the future of this facility. 

JOURNALIST: I just have one more question.

AYRES: Yeah, no worries. 

JOURNALIST: Why is it so important that we do invest in clean energy? 

AYRES: A future made in Australia is all about making sure that Australian minerals are turned into Australian metals and Australian finished products for the world. We're operating in a tougher world. Volatile global trading environment that means that this government is determined to make sure that our policy approach is all about securing jobs in the outer regions and outer suburbs of Australia, backing our blue-collar industrial regions to produce Australian goods for global markets. 

JOURNALIST: And just a couple from me if that's okay? 

AYRES: Sure. 

JOURNALIST: How ready is the government do a deal with Donald Trump on the critical minerals? 

AYRES: Well, we're going to work through these issues in a careful way in the Australian national interest. Australia has all of the critical minerals that the new industrial economies of the world require. So, for the United States in particular with investments in computer chips, communications technology, defence technology, renewable energy technology requires critical minerals and Australia's strategic metals and we are in a position where we've got all of those in vast quantities under the ground and we've got vast solar and wind resources and competitive advantage to provide certainty for our global partners. This is a good place, here in Australia and in Queensland, to invest in those processing capabilities. Our officials and our ministers have been making that very clear to the government of the United States, and I imagine that's what's going to continue to happen over the course of next week.

JOURNALIST: And how many and which mining companies are on board? 

AYRES: Well, it's ‑ the engagement from the Australian mining sector now and the processing sector now, has been very strong, but it's also our production credits in the Future Made in Australia program that are providing for interest from the domestic processing sector and the international processing sector in investing in Australian production. This is all about Australia's future economic resilience and delivering for blue-collar and engineering jobs in our outer suburbs and our big industrial regions. 

JOURNALIST: Will Australia back an international act to impose a carbon price on international shipping? 

AYRES: Well, Australia is always going to act in Australia's national interest. We are all about open markets. Australia is a country that benefits from global trade, not from putting the shutters up, but benefits from global trade. One in four Australian private sector jobs are trade‑related jobs. And if you work in a trade‑exposed firm, wages are generally higher, job security is stronger. That's why we're so focused on securing Australia's trade access to the world, because it delivers good jobs in regions like this one.

JOURNALIST: And just lastly, are you worried about Donald Trump punishing Australia for supporting the move? 

AYRES: Australia is going to stand up for Australia's national interests. We're a sovereign country. We're going to make careful judgments. The Albanese Government doesn't rush to judgment about these questions. We're going to act carefully in Australia's national interest. We'll continue to do that, and I expect our American partners will respect our approach.

JOURNALIST: Thank you.

AYRES: Thank you.