JEREMY JONES, HOST: Jumping to some breaking news now this morning, the Federal Government has announced a $2 billion economic bailout for Rio Tinto's Boyne smelter in Gladstone. Joining us now is Industry Minister Tim Ayres. Thanks for your time this morning, Minister. Why did the government make this decision?

SENATOR TIM AYRES, MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY AND INNOVATION AND MINISTER FOR SCIENCE: G’day. Really good to be on the show. This is the biggest industrial investment decision in Queensland's history: $1 billion dollars from the Albanese Government as part of our broader Future Made in Australia package, $ 1billion dollars matched from Queensland and $7.5 billion investment from Rio Tinto in new electricity generation capability in Queensland. This is a Future Made in Australia decision that delivers 3,000 jobs in Gladstone and in Central Queensland, secures investment in this facility, helps us build economic resilience, will push electricity prices down because it'll be additional electricity capacity. This is a very good decision from the Albanese Government here to back Queensland blue-collar jobs.

HOST: Taxpayers may be asking, is this $2 billion - it’s a lot of money - a good investment? What represents value for the government here?

AYRES: We’re an unashamedly pro-manufacturing government. We're for industrial jobs, and we're for them because it's the right thing to do for regional economies like here in Central Queensland. But it's the right thing to do for Australia's economic resilience.

You know, Australia is in a less certain world, and our manufacturing capability is an important part of our overall economic resilience. Industry matters. We need to make more things here. And backing this facility in, with its end-to-end bauxite through to aluminium products supply chain, is a vital part of a Future Made in Australia. 

I'm very proud of the decision that we've made. I'm really pleased with the progress that we've made over the seven months that I've been Minister engaged with this issue. And I know that there'll be many thousands of people in Central Queensland whose future employment is assured through 2040 and beyond. And there'll be girls and boys at school who can now be confident that there'll be jobs in Central Queensland, a beautiful part of the world. It's really good news for Australia too.

HOST: So, the smelter currently employs around 1,000 people. Can we see more jobs now with this investment?

AYRES: Well, what it does is it means that there'll be confidence to invest in more capability. So, not just in formal commitments underwriting new electricity generation and transmission to deliver low-cost electricity, but it also means the small decisions and the big ones that Rio Tinto will be able to make to invest in new plant equipment, to invest in expanding capabilities, that firms in the supply chain or hoop supply services here—firms like Xtreme Engineering that supply engineering services here—will be able to face the future with confidence. Keep employing apprentices, keep delivering new plant equipment, invest in new jobs. This is an absolutely fantastic story for the manufacturing industry in Australia. It's really good for Central Queensland, and the Albanese Government is very proud of this work.

HOST: Several metals processing facilities around the country are struggling to remain financially viable. A big investment here. Are you confident the industry can be viable?

AYRES: Yeah, absolutely. Rio Tinto is investing in long-term power purchasing agreements here that go well beyond the life of this agreement for 20 and 25 years. I'm not one of those people who talk Australia's capacity down. We've had too much of that from Liberals and Nationals in Canberra, who say that Australia is not competitive. We are competitive. We have the best workforce, the best blue-collar workforce in the world. We've got bauxite alumina refining capacity here, aluminium smelting all the way through to aluminium products being supplied in our defence industry, our construction industry, our food packaging industry. This is an industry that Australians should be proud of. They're jobs that kids should aspire to work in. This is a blue-collar Australian story that everybody should be proud of. 

It's the kind of national effort - and as you say, there are facilities that are under pressure around the country. They're under pressure because there's market concentration, trade volatility. That's why we stepped in in Mount Isa, secured the Mount Isa Mines facility run by Glencore, that copper smelter. That, in effect, secures 17,000 jobs in northern and northwest Queensland because of the industrial ecosystem, the fourth-largest industrial ecosystem in the country. We are proudly intervening here to support future competitiveness, to support future productivity and future jobs, and to make sure that we're lifting industrial capability to build that Future Made in Australia.

HOST: Rio Tinto is a big company. People would see this investment from the government coming through and thinking, why can't Rio Tinto be fronting up that money. Why can't they?

AYRES: Well, we're not going to sit on our hands and leave these decisions to others. This is the Albanese Government stepping in here to secure this facility to make sure that it's competitive and can make the investments that it needs to build its future competitiveness. This has been the subject of detailed discussions and negotiations between Rio Tinto and the Government, and with the Queensland Government. They have intensified over the course of the last few weeks, and I'm very pleased that we've been able to bring it home.

HOST: Well, Senator, thank you very much for your time this morning.

AYRES: Thanks very much. Thank you.

HOST: Industry Minister Tim Ayres with you this morning in Gladstone.