Interview on ABC Queensland Southern Drive

EVAN WALLACE, HOST: The Minister for Industry and Innovation is Tim Ayres. Good afternoon to you. 

SENATOR TIM AYRES, MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY AND INNOVATION AND MINISTER FOR SCIENCE: G'day, Evan. Really good to be on the show. 

HOST: Tim Ayres, why have you watered down your policy?  

AYRES: Well, far from watering it down Evan, we are legislating it. This will deliver for the first time in our history, and we'll come to the up to component of this in a moment, but it means Australian gas will be set aside for Australians. We're the only major gas exporter in the world that doesn't have a Domestic Gas Reservation Scheme. The scheme means that there will be an assessment of the domestic requirement every year for heavy industry, for households, and for the electricity system.   

We'll add more and we'll reserve more than what is required. And that means that every day of the week there will be an oversupply of gas for the Australian market. That will drive down prices and give, in my area of activity, heavy industry and the Future Made in Australia project, the confidence to continue operating and the confidence for the big investments that are going to rebuild.  

HOST: They're the inherent principles behind the reservation policy. But it is a big change because earlier in the year you did announce that the reservation policy would set aside 20 per cent of gas as part of a domestic reservation. Now it's up to 20 per cent. Why have you made this change?  

AYRES: Well, Evan, what we did before Christmas and then some months after that, and then today is have a very public, very open process to make sure that we get the scheme right. I want to do this, and the Albanese Government wants to do this once for Australia. So, there is one framework. I worked in manufacturing for most of my life before I was elected to the Parliament. I saw firm after firm close when Australia was exposed to the global gas price and we've lost industrial capacity. This should have been legislated in 1999. So, you've been legislated —  

HOST: You've made that point that it's overdue. I'm still not sure whether I've heard though. What is it the crux of why you've changed from minimum 20 per cent to up to 20 per cent?  

AYRES: It just means that we won't have gas that we can't use in the economy. Right. It's just a practical measure. If we require 20 per cent, 20 per cent is what is delivered. If the local demand is less, we will make that assessment and then add additional requirements. So, there is an oversupply all of the time, a modest oversupply. That's a practical way of ensuring that we deliver the outcome that we need to deliver for Australia. No other government has had the guts to do this. No other government has done what the Albanese Government is doing here. That's a point made really clearly.  

HOST: How much of this change Tim Ayres comes down to the gas giants putting pressure on the Government? 

AYRES: There is no doubt that there was strong views from elements of the gas sector who'd rather we didn't do this, who'd rather that everything just continued as it was. That's the case. There are many requests made to the Government. We have listened carefully to what heavy industry has said, what the gas industry has said and delivered a practical outcome here that will deliver lower gas prices for industry and lower gas prices for households and also matters for the electricity system.   

This is a heavy obligation that has been imposed by the Government on the gas industry and the gas exporters in particular, who will be required to comply with it and ensure that Australian gas, which sits under the ground and under our waters, is being delivered for Australian purposes. It will be the foundation of our future energy competitiveness.  

This is going to go to the Parliament over the course of this year. There's a big choice for the Liberals and Nationals and One Nation and The Greens to make. Are they going to block Australian progress here or they're going to work with the Government to deliver? To deliver a good result for Australia —  

HOST: We'll be watching it very, very closely. You are listening to Drive. I'm chatting with the Minister for Industry, Tim Ayres. Big change in regards to its proposed gas reservation bill that will now reserve up to 20 per cent of gas for Australians as opposed to 20 per cent minimum. Tim Ayres staying on gas and thinking about where it fits within the economic mix. There has been a push to tax gas at 25 per cent gas exports from The Greens and Independents, One Nation also has its unique policy which looks a bit more like old school Labor than your own. What's your view on a potential gas export tax?  

AYRES: Well, this is a much bigger reform what we're doing now. It will deliver. A gas tax is a fiscal measure that returns a tax for the government. This is a much more substantial reform that delivers lower cost gas and focuses on energy as the source of our future competitive advantage.  

HOST: Do you think you could do both? Could you have both a tax and the reservation policy?  

AYRES: No, I don't think you can do both. And I think this is the bigger reform that delivers for working people in our outer suburbs, in our regions and it delivers for blue collar industry that we need to rebuild. Steelmakers, plastics, fertiliser. We are rebuilding Australia's industrial capability in all of these areas. It requires low-cost gas in order to deliver. That's what we're doing. It's a much bigger reform in substance than anything else that's on the table at the moment.  

HOST: Before I let you go, Tim Ayres, we have a lot of listeners in the farming and agriculture business community, and it's widely expected that your government will announce its immigration policy next week. What's your message to these listeners who are concerned that it could be big cuts to their workforce through cuts to backpacker numbers?  

AYRES: Well, it's agriculture, hospitality, of course, parts of the care economy as well. Of course, migration is just so important. We're paying careful attention to making sure that we deliver future reforms that are in the Australian national interest. We have worked hard on net overseas migration to deliver change that has reduced net overseas migration by about 45 per cent.  

The Albanese Government's very aware that there is a requirement for migration in some of these sectors in the economy. We're also focusing even on doing the things that we need to do as an economy to lift the skills of young Australians too. Free TAFE means that young tradies, workers who need to get a vocational accreditation are accessing free TAFE in very large numbers. So, we have to do both. We're working very hard to deliver a migration system that works for Australia.  

HOST: Tim Ayres, thank you so much for your time this afternoon.   

AYRES: Thanks, Evan. Anytime.