Well, good morning everyone. It's great to be here and as the boss said, thunder struck this morning. And it was a sign, a really positive sign for not only this facility but for our region and quite frankly our nation. Tomago Aluminium is an important industrial piece in Australia and we all learned from COVID that we need to keep making things here in Australia, and under this Prime Minister and the Albanese Government, that's what we intend to do. So, as those workers that gathered there in the rain with us this morning can go home to their loved ones at Christmas and say, we are going to make this work, this Government is standing with us. So, I just want to thank everyone who's been involved in this and this really proves what happens when smart people work together and we've all got a little piece of the puzzle that we contribute and we have a push. We do it methodically, we do it sensibly, and we are working hard for areas like the Hunter. And I just want to give a shout out to my Hunter colleagues. We are one, we work together. They're wonderful people and I couldn't be prouder to be part of the Hunter team and I am absolutely today particularly stoked to be part of an Albanese Labor team for Team Australia.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Well, thanks so much, Meryl, and to you and the Labor team here in the Hunter. You've worked so hard to make sure that your voice is heard. The importance of this facility here, we've been working with Tomago, with Rio Tinto of course as well. I had contact with Simon Trott overnight again. We've been working with Kellie Parker, with Jerome, and the unions have been working as well with the company to make sure that we can ensure that this facility has a future. This is so important for our national interest as well. It's important we as a nation continue to make things here and the program that we've been working on to ensure that long-term future by giving security going forward beyond 2028, particularly using clean energy, is something that my ministers, Ayres and Bowen, have been working on. It's something we've been working constructively with the New South Wales government on as well. I had a discussion with Premier Minns just yesterday, again, working these issues through and we'll be working through over the coming weeks to make sure that the arrangements are finalised to make sure that we have a future here.
Now, what this is about is people like this bloke here, Gary Fleming, who will speak to you next. Gary's worked here for 33 years, providing a good, secure job, providing an income for his family, making a difference as well. That sense of pride that comes from knowing that the work that you do is in Australia's national interest as well. Aluminium, we know, is a key product in so much of what Australia needs going forward. And as Meryl said, one of the things that was apparent during COVID was we can't be just at the end of supply chains. We need to be more resilient as a national economy and we need to make sure that we do make more things here.
I do want to as well pay tribute to Kellie Parker here. Kellie and I have worked together very closely. We have been here, I don't know how many times I've been here, at Gladstone and other facilities right around Australia as well. And so to Kellie, who will be moving on I'm sure to an even bigger future in the coming period, I say thank you for the constructive way in which you've engaged with the Government. And going back a while, of course with the Government, then Opposition, then Government as well, as infrastructure minister, I had a lot to do with Rio up in Gladstone in particular more than a decade ago. So, those relationships are important, but we're going to hear from Gary about why today is so important. Thanks, Gary.
GARY FLEMING, WORKER: Alright, I guess for us here, my time here, this means a lot to the young people here for me, okay? This gives them the jobs that they want and they want to keep and for this plant to keep going, which is important. It's a very good plant and the people in this plant work hard every day and every night. It's 365, 24/7. Make no mistake, that doesn't happen on its own. It takes a good lot of people to do that. And those people out there on the floor day and night, they do a good job of it. Thanks to the management team also, Jerome, Andrew Newman, and Kellie, they're provided that for us to be able to keep moving forward. And don't underestimate what that's doing for the Hunter right now. There's been a lot of talk which you should know about, the ripple effect this could have if this was the opposite to what we see here, are saying today. So, it's a very good day for Tomago Aluminium. And thank you to Raymond and Andrew, but thank you to the Government that we're going to have a future, and we're going to keep making that 600,000 tonne of aluminium a year and give the young people further jobs. And one day I'll probably leave here, but leave it all to them and it'll be theirs to run and theirs to take hold of and do what they want with it, but keep it going. So, thanks again, Meryl, Prime Minister. Thank you. It's a good day. So, happy days, guys.
TIM AYRES, MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY: Well, thank you very much. This is a really important staging post, an agreement here between Tomago Aluminium, its owners, the Commonwealth Government, New South Wales, all of the participants here agreed that we are going to work towards a final agreement over the coming weeks and months. This puts a stake through the heart of the argument that is run by some people that the move towards the lowest cost form of electricity is part of the problem. This deal will underwrite the development of more electricity, more generation, more storage, more transmission to deliver for this facility, but also to deliver lower cost for households and business. This is a win-win for the citizens of New South Wales and Australia. You heard from Gary before, it really matters to the thousands of workers who work directly here or engage through the Hunter in businesses that depend upon Tomago Aluminium for their industrial and engineering future. We have got, and I am very focused on the work over the coming weeks and months to wrap this agreement up to deliver a long-term power purchasing agreement for Togo Aluminium that will see the company invest more in capability in plant and equipment. I also want to thank my ministerial colleague, Chris Bowen, whose leadership and hard work here, because we are so focused on the energy issues for Australian industry, has been a key part of bringing about this really important pre-Christmas development. Thank you.
JOURNALIST: Can you clarify what this deal is? Is this to do with Snowy Hydro?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what we are doing here, and Minister Ayres might want to indicate further, is there's been a board meeting here that's considered the proposals that we're going forward, and what that will look like is Tomago agreeing to have more investment here in their capability at the same time as we provide security of a guarantee of energy price going forward as well. That's the fundamentals. We'll be working those issues through over coming weeks and months, including with New South Wales.
JOURNALIST: Are you able to give us an idea, a ballpark figure, of how much this is going to cost?
MINISTER AYRES: Well, in terms of the costs of this agreement, we will work those issues through with the owners of the facility and closely working through New South Wales. The fundamental premise of this is a long-term power purchasing agreement that delivers security at the right price for Tomago so they are internationally competitive. This is Australia's youngest aluminium plant. This is a good facility. This agreement will underwrite the development of new generation wind-solar storage projects and transmission, accelerate that in New South Wales and mean that we are underwriting lower-cost electricity, not just for here, but of course building the electricity grid and lowering costs for households and business at the same time.
JOURNALIST: Are there specific projects that are going to be accelerated as a result of this?
MINISTER AYRES: Well, we will have lots more to say over the coming weeks and months about the detail of those questions. This is a complex set of arrangements. It involves a partnership between the firm here, the Commonwealth and New South Wales. There are benefits and costs for all of us in this process. I, like the PM, want to pay tribute as well to the trade unions, the AWU in particular, who've been very focused on bringing forward smart deals that are in the national interest and the interest of this facility.
JOURNALIST: Minister, can you please elaborate on the state's role in all of this? I noticed your state colleagues aren't here today. What role are they playing into the future here?
MINISTER AYRES: Well, as the PM said, we've been very engaged with New South Wales. We will keep working with New South Wales. There is agreement between New South Wales and the Commonwealth that we'll keep working these issues through. They're committed to the future of this facility. They understand how important it is for the future of New South Wales, and I'm very confident that we will land an agreement that will be in the best interests of Tomago Aluminium, the industrial capability here in the Hunter, and households and business in New South Wales.
JOURNALIST: Have they been dragging the chain on this, Minister?
MINISTER AYRES: Well, it always takes, in my experience of these kind of arrangements, what it takes is the Commonwealth, the state government, the owner of the facility and the management of the facility and the surrounding industrial ecosystem all on the same page. And what I've found is being in lockstep with state governments is absolutely important, and we will continue to take that process with the Minns government forward, working together, working really carefully, listening to each other carefully and delivering a deal that's in the best interest of New South Wales and Australia.
JOURNALIST: Ten years is a relatively long period of time for something like this. Is there some sort of cost sharing or loss sharing mechanism that you're going to be building into this?
MINISTER AYRES: What I won't be doing is oversharing that at this conference, the details of this. Suffice to say that there are costs and benefits that accrue to New South Wales and the Commonwealth and Tomago Aluminium. There's a set of national interest questions here and local questions, but a long-term power purchasing agreement is in the interest of continued long-term investment in the industrial future of this facility. That's what Future Made in Australia is about. It's about giving Kellie and Jerome and their boards the confidence to invest in the long-term capability of Australian manufacturing. That's why we have the production credits in the Future Made in Australia architecture because it sends a message to investors and to manufacturers, if you invest here in Australia, it is a good place to invest. You will do well here. You've got a stable workforce, the commitment from the Government, and that will mean billions of dollars of additional investment in Australian manufacturing. As you can see, I'm anxious to get off the microphone and put the PM back in the centre of this discussion, but very happy to talk about the details as they unfold. This is important to the region. This is a region of Australia that has some of the best industrial capability, that has so much to win, so much to gain in terms of good jobs, blue collar jobs and engineering jobs for locals, and we're determined to do it well.
JOURNALIST: The Government has stepped into a number of manufacturing industries over the past 12 months. Is this method sustainable and is it fair to the taxpayer?
PRIME MINISTER: I tell you what's not fair to the taxpayer and our national interest, is to not have manufacturing in this country. This is an investment that produces a return. It's a return for Gary and his family, for all of the workers out there and their families, for this community as well. There is a multiplier effect as well. If Australia doesn't produce aluminium, then the knock on effect in other industries is significant because aluminium is increasingly a vital product. And what we're seeing around the world is that there's no place you'd rather be than Australia, with the resources that we have, with the capacity we have to produce renewable, clean energy and the products that we have in the ground, that can then be value-added to produce products that can be not just used through our domestic economy, but for export as well. So, we make no apologies for the fact that we put front and centre to the Australian people our Future Made in Australia agenda. We have our National Reconstruction Fund, we have our production tax credits, we have our critical minerals and rare earths plan as well. And we know that around the world, they are in demand, and we are working closely with industry. We're working with state and territory governments across the board, whether it be in Whyalla with the South Australian government, in Mt Isa with the Queensland government, with the paper mill with the Tasmanian government. Here in New South Wales, we'll be working through with the New South Wales government. The future of this facility is so important.
JOURNALIST: PM, will Snowy Hydro form part of this future investment?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we'll go through all of the details. As Tim has said, we're working those issues through. And one of the pluses that we have is the capacity to produce renewable energy and to do so in a way that provides security going forward.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, Tomago has been talking about the impact of increasing electricity costs for some years now. They've gone to market trying to secure a deal and haven't been able to do that. Was the Government quietly hoping this issue would just sort itself out without having to require government intervention?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we of course, as a government, will always be engaged. I've been to Tomago - Kellie might have a count, or Meryl.
MEMBER FOR PATERSON: Many times.
PRIME MINISTER: This is certainly not my first visit here. I've been here at least five times over the years and this is an important facility. This is an important employer, but it's an important driver of the Hunter economy as well.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, I have some questions aside from Tomago to ask you today. I'm sure they're not going to be a surprise to you. But do you think a review into travel entitlements is necessary?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I've said repeatedly that I'll take advice from the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority. I've said that publicly and asked for that advice from IPEA. It's important that as parliamentarians we're not sort of deciding things for ourselves, because that would bring obvious criticism. And I've seen some of the commentary that seems to ignore that, and that's why my Government, what we do is we do things in an orderly way. I've asked IPEA for advice. At least two members of Parliament have referred themselves for the details of their audit. But addition to that, I've said to IPEA, please give us some advice. And we'll take that on board and when that advice is received, we'll make a decision in the usual way. But it's important to get that advice.
JOURNALIST: IPEA says that questions about legislative review are not for them, it's for the Finance department. So, who's responsible here?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, IPEA are the Independent Parliamentary Expenses Authority. They work, of course, with the Finance department and the rem tribunal. There's a whole map of the bureaucracy, but IPEA are the people who oversee and manage these issues and I've asked the head of IPEA for advice.
JOURNALIST: And when did you ask for that advice?
PRIME MINISTER: I've done it publicly at multiple press conferences, if you go back and have a look at it, I've said repeatedly every day when I've been asked about this, whether it's here with this, whether it be the social media ban that came into effect on Wednesday, a significant reform that I note someone said to me today would be regarded as significant, when people look back at it, as now we look back on John Howard's decision on gun laws. This is about safety of our children going forward.
JOURNALIST: PM, just another question to do with the Hunter here. Aside from Tomago, would you be open to giving high-speed rail the green light?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we have - high-speed rail, I'm an enthusiast. You're pushing against an open door here when it comes to high-speed rail. I am unashamedly an infrastructure nerd, and particularly when it comes to rail. That's why I came here on 1 January in Newcastle at the beautiful surf club there at Cooks Hill in January 2022. It was the first commitment I made during that election year. And so, what we've done is we've established the Authority, they're doing the work going forward, and Catherine King, my minister, has continued to work with the Authority on that.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, I may be flogging a dead horse here, but can you please confirm and clarify what day did you ask IPEA for advice?
PRIME MINISTER: I ask all the time publicly.
JOURNALIST: When did you reach out to them specifically? Is there a time?
PRIME MINISTER: I reach out publicly all the time.
JOURNALIST: Okay, and can I ask you a question, we're here in the Hunter, we're talking about energy. Where are we at with the Hunter Offshore Wind Farm here? We know the partner pulled out earlier this year. What's the message? What's the update?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that's a question for Minister Bowen.
JOURNALIST: Are you confident it'll go ahead?
PRIME MINISTER: That's a question for Minister Bowen.
JOURNALIST: PM, just a final question just regarding Tomago. I just wanted to clarify, just from the workers' perspective, it sounds like this is a bit of an agreement to reach an agreement. What's your message to workers? Are their jobs secure?
PRIME MINISTER: My message to workers is we've got you back. And we know that there was an announcement some time ago here that questioned what was going to happen here, whether it would exist beyond 2028. What we're saying is we're committed to making sure that that happens. The company's committed to making sure that that happens as well. We're working this issue through with New South Wales. And my message to workers is we've got your back. Thank you.
