Interview with Leon Compton, ABC Hobart Tasmania Mornings

LEON COMPTON, HOST: Tim Ayres is a Senator, and Federal Minister for Industry and Innovation. Tim Ayres, good morning to you.

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

HOST: Yeah, good to talk to you again. Thank you for being part of Mornings across the journey of this story. What specifically is the Federal contribution to a deal to keep Rio in town?

AYRES: Well, it's a matched contribution. It's a $200 million intervention shared by the State Government. And remember, as we've been traversing this issue over the last 6 to 12 months, we had, as the Commonwealth Government, I've been publicly and privately very clear on this issue. We needed to see a competitive power price from Tas Hydro. We needed to see them sharpen their pencil. They have done that work. And this is the two governments stepping in to make sure, that in this environment, that these 550 jobs here at Bell Bay and the 1,000 or so indirect jobs, have got a secure future well into the 2030s. It’s a really important deal.

HOST: No doubt it's an important deal. You'll hear the relief from communities across the north of Tasmania, across the next half hour, and you'll be standing in the middle of it, I'm assuming, as you make this announcement, you know, just minutes from now, more fully. So, is your contribution to the power deal, Minister?

AYRES: No, it's a direct contribution to support that electricity deal, to make sure that the facility remains competitive. You're right. There is a lot of relief here. I spent the evening here in George Town and Bell Bay last night. Had a beer with locals last night to talk about the progress that's been made. It is, you know, it's been pretty heavy going. And I'm really grateful for the local community here and the workers here at Bell Bay for staying the course, for continuing to turn up to work every day, in what's been a very uncertain environment. And it's only because of their efforts that the Albanese Government can step in here and deliver.

HOST: Ok. Are you giving Rio money, cash money, as part of this deal?

AYRES: Oh, yeah. It's no ambiguity here. This is a support that is provided to the company. It has all of the kind of protections that you would imagine, or taxpayers would want to see. Making sure that public money has been accounted for properly and protected. It reduces, in the event that aluminium prices continue to rise. So, you know, this is a careful arrangement. But in the end what it delivers is certainty for Rio Tinto, that they can continue to operate and continue to invest in this facility well into the 2030s. And it protects these really important blue collar industrial jobs for the region.

HOST: I'm about to play a pre-record off the back of this interview with the Premier from a few minutes ago. I'm not sure that there was any contractual demand, in writing, for Rio to invest, particularly in the facility under this deal. Am I wrong?

AYRES: Well, every one of the pot lines here, every pot in them, has to get turned over. There is a continued investment in this facility from the company. And it's quite different to what happened at the neighbouring facility at Liberty Bell Bay. I've shared my disappointment and anger about what happened there. You know, if you don't invest –

HOST: Have you contractually –

AYRES: If you don't have the workforce and the management that are continuing to. Well, they must maintain that capability. That means they must continue to invest. And LBB shows what happens when that doesn't occur. It only takes months and years of under-investment for a facility to be in the condition that LBB was. We've intervened here to make sure there's a platform for continued investment, continued work, employment, hundreds and hundreds of jobs, more than a thousand indirect jobs. This is the right thing to do.

HOST: It is objectively a good news day for people. You would have been popular at the pub last night I'm imagining, no doubt. But there are still questions to ask about the nature of this deal. Let's pick another example. A Senate term is 6 years. This deal runs 5. In other words, in the life of the next Parliament, this deal will be up for negotiation again. How is it best practice to put workers and indeed yourself as Government, in exactly the same position in 5 years from now, or fewer?

AYRES: Well, every one of these agreements has a term to it.

HOST: Tomago was 10. The last power deal was 10. Why is this 5?

AYRES: Well, each rests on its own circumstances. In this case, the company is very clear that they were for a 5-year agreement here. The Tomago deal or the Boyne smelter deal are underpinned by a whole series of new investments in electricity. They take their time to work through. You know, new generation isn't built in a day, new transmission isn't built in a day. This is a carefully negotiated agreement. It provides certainty through into the 2030s and we will have to have that from the Albanese Government, from this company, from the State Government. A continued focus on what is required to keep this facility operating into the future. And just as importantly, perhaps more importantly, Leon, what can we do together to secure more industrial investment in George Town, in Bell Bay, in Northern Tasmania, in jobs right across the economy? You know, we haven't let up our focus on trying to secure new investment in the Liberty Bell Bay site. We'll be looking for opportunities for industrial investment, and that's what the Albanese Government's about. That's why Future Made in Australia – it's ambitious. It's the biggest pro-manufacturing package in our history. But it's because we need to re-industrialise the economy. Secure existing facilities, yes, but also deliver new investment in new blue collar jobs. The Albanese Government's just the same as the governments in the 1950s and 1960s who saw the industrialisation and reconstruction opportunity for Australia, and grabbed it with both hands and delivered facilities like the one that I'm standing in now.

HOST: Tim Ayres, we appreciate you talking with us. I know you've got to turn around and start pointing yourself at cameras for a press conference. Thanks for the chat.

AYRES: Thanks, Leon. Talk to you soon.

ENDS.