MERYL SWANSON, MEMBER FOR PATERSON: Well, good morning, everyone. It is fantastic to be here in Medowie at VeraSys with Minister for Industry, Tim Ayres, today, talking about some incredible innovation that is happening right here in Medowie and in the seat of Paterson and more broadly, the Hunter. It's so great to be with Diana and Craig here at Murray Consulting Solutions and they are developing some really incredible technology, and it's great as a Federal Government to be supporting that technology. 

I'll let the Minister talk more to the exciting news for today. But it's happening here in the Hunter and importantly it's happening with young students out of the University of Newcastle. So, Murray has created not only a business and technology here, but importantly, really great jobs for young people that went to school here locally, went to uni and now they're developing these exciting technology platforms. It's an exciting day to be here. Tim, thank you for coming along.

SENATOR TIM AYRES, MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY AND INNOVATION AND MINISTER FOR SCIENCE: Thank you. G'day. I was excited when this came across my desk. I'm even more excited to be here. This is Australian agricultural technology using drones enabled by artificial intelligence that's been developed here in Australia for the Australian farming sector. It offers all sorts of advantages for Australian agriculture and productivity terms. 

But what this really does is allow this firm, VeraSys, to scale up from 8 staff to 23 staff, developing state of the art drone technology that's going to drive real advantages and strengths in Australian agriculture. That's what a Future Made in Australia is about. Making sure that these inventions here in Australia are commercialised in Australia, delivering good jobs and sovereign capability, making the country stronger. This is a $2.2 million grant that's going to drive the next phase of this technology and make sure it's delivered right here in the Hunter Valley.

JOURNALIST: How important is it, putting our money behind local manufacturing markets?

AYRES: This is a government, the Albanese Government, with the biggest pro-manufacturing policy package of any government in Australian history. It's grants, production and tax credits, measures to make sure our foundational industry capacity is preserved. A Gas Reservation that reserves Australian gas for Australian industry, driving prices down and making our manufacturers more competitive. It's a tough world for Australian manufacturing out there. We are determined to make sure that in those tough circumstances, we don't take our future for granted. And we deliver for Australian industry and we deliver for good blue-collar jobs in the regions.

JOURNALIST: And while we're on local manufacturing, can you talk me through where the Tomago deal is up to?

AYRES: Yeah. This is a big opportunity for Australia and for New South Wales and the Hunter. Tomago Aluminium employs directly and indirectly around 5,000 people here in the Hunter Valley. It is Australia's youngest and its largest aluminium facility. This opportunity that the Prime Minister and I set out at Tomago late last year to use the investment in Tomago to drive more generation capacity here in New South Wales so that we're lifting up the electricity system at the same time, driving prices down for households and for heavy industry. 

This is the Tomago opportunity. We did it on the other side of the Tweed just a few months ago. A billion dollars from the Albanese Government, a billion dollars from the Crisafulli Government, $7.5 billion dollars from Rio Tinto being invested in new electricity generation in Queensland. Queensland has nailed this down in an economic slam dunk that makes Queensland more competitive, Queensland industry more productive and secures industrial investment as far as the eye can see in Central Queensland. We have a way forward. We are determined to generate that opportunity here in the Hunter Valley and we're working hard underneath the bonnet to make sure that it’s in the best shape possible.

JOURNALIST: We didn't see any funding in the Budget last week. Are you waiting on the State Government's budget? Is that what the Federal Government's waiting on now?

AYRES: No, this is a funding support package that will be operating through the 2030s and we will make decisions in future budgets, once we've finalised the package and once we’ve delivered that jointly with the New South Wales Government. All of these funding packages around Australia, whether it's the Whyalla steel intervention, the Mount Isa mining intervention or the Boyne smelter in Central Queensland, have all involved a shared commitment from the Commonwealth and the States. New South Wales is no different and we'll work through those issues privately with them. But what this will require is a shared commitment from New South Wales and the Commonwealth to this vital industrial asset. We're doing the hard work in the Albanese Government with our partners at Snowy Hydro to deliver a cost-effective power purchasing agreement for Tomago. That's what previous governments have done in New South Wales when the electricity asset was publicly owned, it was New South Wales governments that were delivering cheap power for Tomago. Well, we are prepared to lean in, but it will be a shared commitment.

JOURNALIST: So, there's no timeline for when that figure will be revealed?

AYRES: Obviously this is a source of intense anxiety for the Hunter Valley. We understand that this is a top order priority. We're determined to get it right. It's a complex undertaking. We're going to keep doing that work over coming weeks and months.

JOURNALIST: And just finally, Tim, can you assure those 5,000 indirect and direct workers that the Prime Minister is going to keep his promise there?

AYRES: Well, we are working so hard. We understand how important this facility is for those workers, for the Hunter Valley, but also for Australia's end-to-end aluminium capacity. And we will do everything that we can. We set out the pathway forward late last year. Our work here is strengthening and intensifying. We're going to keep the effort up on behalf of the Hunter and for Australia.

ENDS