LUKE CROSS, HOST: Joining me now is the Minister for Industry and Innovation, Tim Ayres. G'day Tim, how are you, mate?

SENATOR TIM AYRES, MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY AND INNOVATION AND MINISTER FOR SCIENCE: Oh, Luke, it's really good to be on the show, g'day.

CROSS: Mate, it's great to have you. It's obviously been a crazy time for everybody in politics it seems at the moment.

AYRES: Look, we are absolutely focused on the job here, reindustrialising our regional economies, and very focused on Gladstone and Central Queensland. I’m delighted that the Albanese Government's National Reconstruction Fund has made this big investment in Gladstone's industrial capability.

CROSS: Yeah. Tell us actually about what the investment is. What is it for people that may see a lot of acronyms and a lot of money and not really know what it's all about?  

AYRES: It's a $75 million investment from the Albanese Government's National Reconstruction Fund. That's our fund, it's not about grants, it's not about providing cash for companies. It's for investments in equity or loans to support the commercialisation of Australian technology into new manufacturing jobs.

This is $75 million in Alpha HPA in Gladstone, that will deliver 500 jobs; 420 jobs in construction, 80 permanent blue collar technical trades jobs in the long-term for Gladstone.  And it should be open for business at the end of 2027, beginning of 2028.

CROSS: So why is this so important for - in regard to talking about, you know, for the future of the Australian economy, why is it so important?

AYRES: Well, there's three reasons why this is important. Firstly, the jobs really matter. It's a vote of confidence in Gladstone's engineering capability and in the industrial capacity of this region and a vote of confidence in the workers in Gladstone.

Number two, it's important for Australia in industrial terms because High Purity Alumina, which this plant will produce, this investment will see the largest High Purity Alumina plant in the world located in Gladstone, is a critical mineral and ingredient for a whole lot of the new technologies. It's important in semiconductor manufacturing, in cooling technologies, in communications technologies, it has defence applications, and this sees Australia stepping up the value chain in some of the new emerging critical technologies.

That's good for us in economic resilience terms, but it's also, as your listeners will be able to appreciate, important in strategic terms for Australia as well – our resources industry is fantastic, but we want to be more than a dig and ship economy, we want to be high-end manufacturing and this delivers more of that for Gladstone.

And finally, this supports the whole of industry in Gladstone. It will be taking byproducts and exchanging byproducts with some of the adjoining businesses in the aluminium sector and with Orica. It supports the sustainability and competitiveness not just of the Alpha HPA plant itself but all of Gladstone's manufacturing capability.

CROSS: And it's all that, that's the kind of stuff that like the AI industry, the big bubble there is really blowing because they need that kind of cooling in their semiconductors and things like that too.

AYRES: Yeah, it's a crucial part of artificial intelligence and digital technologies and means that what the Albanese Government is about here is making sure we capture the economic opportunities for Australia and that we locate new factories and new production capabilities in regional Australia.

I grew up in regional Australia, I know how important these jobs are, and Central Queensland and Gladstone are one of Australia's industrial heartlands. The Albanese Government is determined to make sure we're putting our shoulder to the wheel and backing local jobs and backing blue collar jobs.

CROSS: That's awesome. That's great to see investment, because that's how, you know, things grow. Do we have any – like I mean I know it's just been announced, and maybe you haven't got the exact time or details, but do you know when like this is going to start the ball rolling? Obviously, it's been announced, but when's the, you know, construction, and things like that, are going to start showing?

AYRES: I don't have dates for construction commencement. I mean there is already a plant there that is producing High Purity Alumina now. This is proven technology. The company advises me that they expect to be ready for production at the end of 2027/2028, so this is not a far-off prospect, this is a real investment that is going to create real jobs in the Gladstone community.

I want to see investment in new industrial capability that builds confidence. There's too much talking Australian manufacturing down. This is a government that's unashamedly pro-manufacturing, with the biggest pro-manufacturing industry package, the Future Made in Australia package, in Australian history.

We're backing the sector; we're backing it with our plans for the electricity system to invest more in generation and transmission capability so that industries like the aluminium industry and firms like Alpha HPA have got the certainty about their future competitive advantage so that they can continue to invest in good jobs and good capability.

CROSS: Tim, thanks for the chat today, it sounds like a great initiative and great investment, and we certainly look forward to seeing what comes from it in the next few years. Thanks for your time though today.

AYRES: Good on you mate, yep, hope to see you in the studio next time.

CROSS: Absolutely, thanks Tim.

AYRES: See you, bye.

CROSS: That is Tim Ayres, the Minister for Industry and Innovation.