SENATOR TIM AYRES, MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY AND INNOVATION AND MINISTER FOR SCIENCE: I’ve got two brief announcements to make today. I’m here with the Member for Bass, Jess Teesdale MP. The first is just to confirm announcements that have been made in South Australia today about the future of the Whyalla facility. As the South Australian and Albanese Governments have indicated, we’re moving forward in an orderly process to downselect to two bidders that the administrator will be working with. Those bidders are Jindal Group and M Resources. Of course, we are very grateful for the support and assistance that BlueScope have provided during the administration, and we will continue to work closely with BlueScope. And as has been made public, BlueScope retain a right of final offer that was provided to them by the administrator as part of this process. 

This is a very significant intervention by the Albanese and Malinauskas Governments in a shared approach to secure the future of this vital piece of Australia’s iron and steel manufacturing capability. It was a deliberate intervention to secure a Future Made in Australia for iron and steel, to look after the interests of blue-collar workers in that vital industrial region in South Australia. And this is important progress as we head towards a final sale to a commercial owner who will operate and invest in that business. It is just one of the industrial facilities, around Australia that were let down by their previous owner, the GFG group. 

If I can turn to, for a moment, the second announcement, another great industrial facility, regional Australian facility, that was let down by its previous owner from the GFG group. I can confirm today that the Albanese Government and the Rockliff Government in Tasmania will continue to fund the ongoing administration of Liberty Bell Bay. And the administrator has also announced today that they have entered an exclusive purchasing arrangement or sale negotiations with a joint capital who are proposing to purchase that business. 

This is an important, credible step forward to secure the future of that industrial facility. It’s Australia’s only manganese manufacturing facility. It smelts Australian manganese ore from the Northern Territory that’s shipped to Tasmania, that’s processed with electricity from Tas Hydro by skilled Tasmanian workers. Two hundred workers’ jobs there on the line have been put into that position because this excellent facility has been mismanaged and undercapitalised by Mr Gupta and the GFG group. 

It is an unusual step to take for two Governments to step in and support workers’ wages during administration. But it’s the right thing to do. We’re working hard with the administrator to deliver a final sale of that business in the interests of Bell Bay and in the interests of Tasmania. 

Jess Teesdale, who is here with me today, has been relentlessly advocating for those workers, listening to workers and businesses in the Bell Bay community who have been let down by the previous owner. She’s been a consistent advocate, I can tell you, to Government, including regularly beating a path to my door. She’s a great advocate for northern Tasmania and industrial Tasmania. 

This is not the end of the job. It is a step along the way to securing a final sale. The future is not certain, and I’ve been deeply worried as this has moved along about how tough it’s been for that group of workers, how much they’ve been let down and how long this uncertainty has gone on for. This is an important step along the way. It’s the right thing for the Governments to do. 

I’ll just say finally, before I allow Jess to step up to the microphone, and then we’ll go to some questions if any of you have got questions today, both of these interventions have required really close cooperation and a shared approach with state governments across state and commonwealth lines and sometimes across political lines as well. I’m really grateful for the close work and cooperation of Tasmanian Premier Jeremy Rockliff and South Australia’s Peter Malinauskas. 

This is how we deliver a Future Made in Australia and deliver an industrial future for these communities – by working together, by sharing the burden and bringing everything that state and Commonwealth governments can bring together to the fore. 

I’ll pop Jess on, and then I’ll be back for questions. 

JESS TEESDALE: Thank you, Tim. This is an incredible day for our workers in Northern Tasmania. They’ve had over 12 months now of uncertainty and not knowing what the next step was. Now that it’s gone into this next phase of potential sale – again, still potential – it’s so important that we retain this uniquely placed and highly skilled workforce. There’s no-one else in Australia who can do what these people do, and there’s 214 workers on site who we know are incredible for both what they do but also for Northern Tasmania. It’s their families that have been worried. It’s these guys who have been really uncertain what about the future will hold for them. And I’m so very, very proud to have gotten to this stage where we’re giving that extra little bit of support to make sure that the workers stay, so that if there is a sale process in the near future, the smelter will be able to be up and operational again as soon as possible. And that is really key to the economic success in the future for Tasmania. Thank you. 

AYRES: Okay. 

JOURNALIST: Minister, you’ve mentioned two or three times now the term Future Made in Australia. You are the point man for a Future Made in Australia. Start-ups, tech companies, they also want to make a future – their future – here in Australia. How on earth did this Government get to a point where they’re talking about walking away? 

AYRES: Well, in the Budget, on budget night, Treasurer Jim Chalmers made it really clear that we’ll be working with the tech sector, with start-ups on the implementation of the decisions that we made in the Budget. He’s been leading those discussions. All of us, of course, have been engaged with the sector. That’s not new news, Matthew. We have made it very clear in the Budget. We’re working with those firms over the course of the Budget, and we’ll continue to work with them over coming weeks. 

JOURNALIST: Are you confident that people who want to – you’ll be able to find a way through so that we can make a Future Made in Australia, not just in the big mining areas you’ve been working in but in the smaller sectors? 

AYRES: This is an important – it’s a small part of the Australian economy, but it’s part of the economy that we want to grow. And the packages in the Budget that provide tax support, Future Made in Australia support, research and development tax incentive support, they are big boosts for a Future Made in Australia. They are big boosts for the tech and start-up sector. We’ll keep working with the tech sector on the implementation of the Budget, and Jim Chalmers will continue to lead those discussions. 

JOURNALIST: Minister, with the Whyalla sale, [indistinct] in the contract [indistinct] for that sale to ensure that [indistinct] remains open and, if so, how long [indistinct]? 

AYRES: Yeah, this is the intervention that was announced in February was a very significant intervention – to establish an administration of the steelworks in the national interest. Essentially, we've taken the steelworks off the old owner in a very dramatic intervention that is calculated to deliver a pit-to-port Australian manufacturing capability here in iron and steel. It’s a great industrial asset. It’s been let down by its previous owner. We’re determined to make sure that it’s fit for the future. I’m confident that the process that the administrator is leading has brought two credible bidders into a final process, and we’ll keep working the administrator through that process. 

JOURNALIST: [Indistinct] to ensure there’s not [indistinct]? 

AYRES: It is designed to deliver future Australian steelmaking. Of course, there’s a lot of work to do. It is not mission accomplished. There is a lot of work to do to make sure we work through from pit-to-port, through iron and steel processing to deliver that vital capability for Australia. It is hard work and it’s hard work that’s working. 

JOURNALIST: How much has the Government spent on the administration so far? 

AYRES: Well, we made an additional allocation in the Budget. We want to make sure that the administrator has got the tools that they need to bring about a final sale. We said when the Prime Minister and the Premier of South Australia made this announcement we said that we wanted to bring about a sale in 18 months. We are on track for that approach. But we want to make sure that it’s a good process that lands the right owner in the Australian national interest. 

Some years ago in both Whyalla and Bell Bay the new owner then of those facilities arrived and there was so much hope – so much hope in those communities. Well, they have been let down. We’re determined in Whyalla to make sure that the administration process leads to the right owner in the Australian national interest and in the interests of that community. 

JOURNALIST: I have a question on gas regulation if I can? 

AYRES: Yes. 

JOURNALIST: When Prime Minister Anthony Albanese went to Korea and spoke to Japan and also to Malaysia about energy trade, he said the trade was built on mutual trust and respect, but under the rules outlined in the consultation documents [indistinct] exporters including the Japanese, Korean and Malaysian investors in LNG in Gladstone will have to prove beyond ministerial doubt that they have exhausted all options for domestic supply, including investing in new production capacity, before they are permitted by the Minister to meet their export contracts. Where is the trust in that? And will that regulation – this is in black and white [indistinct] – 

AYRES: Just one small difference with your outline of the position here – that is, there’s a role for the regulator here as well in that process. This is a foundational landmark Labor reform – making sure that Australian gas is available for Australian industry and Australian households as the foundation of our future energy competitiveness. We’ve also been really clear that we will respect existing contracts. And the details of how that process is undertaken between now and those contracts coming off will be worked through over the coming 8 weeks. 

We released the discussion framework on Monday. There will be a very enthusiastic and willing consultation engaged in over the next 8 weeks to develop the final approach. 

JOURNALIST: Eight weeks is a short time frame for the second biggest export industry in the country. Would you – do you think that you can maintain trust with those trade partners through this tight process? 

AYRES: Well, maintaining confidence in existing contracts is a really important principle. And this has been a long process. Chris Bowen and Madeleine King, and I announced the Gas Reservation Scheme in late December. We announced the initial opening parameters of that scheme. In the Budget, Jim Chalmers announced a closing of those parameters around a final option that the Government had decided was in the right interests of Australian industry and also preserved and protected our existing contracts. There is 8 weeks more work to do. Government will consider that work, and we’ll reach a final approach once we’ve finished those consultations.

JOURNALIST: Minister, just on the steelwork sale again, there were a few eyebrows raised this morning when the BlueScope-led consortium [indistinct] in those final 2 bidders. Your reaction to that? 

AYRES: Well, of course, there is a process that is led by the joint taskforce and the administrators here. They have selected the bids that are most closely compliant with the bid requirements. They’ve done that work in a careful way. I’ll just say BlueScope’s support and participation in the administration process has been really valued and it’s underscored their commitment to Australian manufacturing. And as the administrator has publicly indicated – it’s not a secret – BlueScope retain that right of final offer. We will keep engaged with BlueScope. The focus of the administration will be, of course, on those negotiations with the Jindal Group and M Resources over the coming weeks and months. 

JOURNALIST: Just on Bell Bay – 

AYRES: Last question then I’ve got to scoot. 

JOURNALIST: Adroit Capital talked about investing in AI, Hollywood movies, real estate. A manganese smelter seems a little bit of their wheelhouse. What makes you confident that they’re the right buyer, and are you confident that we won’t be in this position again in a couple of years’ time? 

AYRES: Well, there’s been quite some interest in the facility. It’s a good industrial facility. It has got a proud history. It’s a very efficient, capable facility with excellent, capable staff and a community that supports it. And the Tasmanian and the Commonwealth Governments stepping in the way that we have underscores our commitment and support for the credibility of that facility. 

Now, there was a range of interest. The administrators downselected to one. They have to make those judgments about who is the most credible purchaser. They have made that judgment. And we’ll continue to support that administration to deliver a successful sale. Thanks very much, everybody.