HOST, MURRAY JONES: Well, for many, many years we've been lamenting the loss of so much industry here in Australia. It's all going offshore and particularly seeing we produce so much of the raw materials, sending it overseas and then of course buying it back at quite expensive prices. It's been a crazy concept and I think something that has needed to change. So, a key plank of a Future Made in Australia bill passed the Senate last night. Let's talk a little bit further about this and of course some of the key industries that are likely to really benefit from this pack. Senator Tim Ayres, he's the Assistant Minister for Trade and Assistant Minister for a Future Made in Australia. He joins us live this morning. Good morning, Tim. Thanks for your time.
SENATOR TIM AYRES: G'day Murray. Mate, it's terrific to be on the radio up there and good to get a bit of Aretha Franklin in on a Tuesday morning.
HOST: How do you like it?
AYRES: Really good.
HOST: I'm always told I'm the most natural woman at home, particularly when I got the apron on. But we won't go there this morning. Let's talk a little bit more about, you know, it really is about reduced tax on after production for eligible categories of businesses and companies that are focusing on some of the key areas that I guess can really move Australia forward. Just run through some of those eligible categories for us, for people you know as part of this Future Made in Australia.
AYRES: Well, the lion's share of the package that passed the Senate last night is for supporting and value adding in the mining sector. So, for critical minerals we are a very fortunate country. We have all of the critical minerals underneath the ground that the world wants for the, for the net zero transformation. So, there's the biggest, biggest industrial transformation since the industrial revolution happening around the world. And it means for all of those products in a whole series of defence applications, mobile phone technology, computer chips, there is a rising demand for critical minerals products. Australia has got all of the critical minerals that are required around the world in vast quantities. Other countries, our competitors have got some, but Australia has all of them. And this package means that there is an incentive for miners and producers to process that ore onshore to turn it into critical minerals products. That's important for us in regional communities because it means that there's investment and good jobs, good blue-collar jobs and good engineering jobs. It's also, have to say, important for us in our strategic, you know, an economic resilience in a trade and a security perspective. This is very important for the future of Australia. So, we are, we are unashamedly pro manufacturing in the Albanese government This, this is, this is the tax component of a broader package that is the biggest pro manufacturing package in Australian history. Because we are determined to bring manufacturing back. We announced just a fortnight ago a $2 billion package to support the aluminium sector. That's jobs here and now Central Queensland, Hunter Valley, Northern Tasmania, Victoria. There's flow on supply chain jobs right through the Australian economy. In every regional economy in the aluminium supply chain, we're backing that sector to stay here. This tax package is for current and future, in what is going to be an effort to transform the Australian economy and to reconstruct the economy and re-industrialise economies in particular.
HOST: Despite what's happening in some corners of the globe, when it comes to renewable and clean energy, so many countries and we're talking about, you know, right throughout Europe and of course the Americas, well, certainly South and Central America when it comes to opportunities for Australia to actually export and meet those future markets. These are the type of areas, despite what might be happening in North America and particularly in the US, still great opportunities for Australia to really leverage off, you know, the need for renewables. When it comes to solar panels, the whole lot, there's so much we can do that's a great opportunity for Australia.
AYRES: Well, 97% of our trading partners have got their own net zero objectives. There'll be ebbs and flows in that, of course, around the world, but the trajectory is very clear. So, back to aluminium for example. Murray, Rio Tinto, for example, is shifting to zero emissions electricity, the principal input, two principal inputs into aluminium production, bauxite and electricity. Huge volumes of electricity. The Gladstone facility, I think uses about 12% of Queensland's electricity. The Tomago facility in the Hunter Valley uses about 11% in NSW as electricity. So, they are big electricity intensive manufacturers. Rio Tinto's plan is to move to wind and solar gas and storage, you know, the cleanest possible zero or close to zero emissions electricity in a small part because of course, you know, they're a company that's got a focus on sustainable production but largely it's a commercial decision. You know, their customers are demanding zero emissions aluminium, high quality Australian zero emissions aluminium, and they are moving to where the customer is up to. It is not up for debate as far as these producers are concerned, whether or not they move to zero emissions electricity. It is just up for debate whether that happens in Australia or not. And that's why the Albanese government launched that $2 billion package to secure the future of aluminium a fortnight ago. That's why we're doing Future Made in Australia for critical minerals products, where every tonne of critical minerals production there will be a tax rebate that goes to 10% of the cost of production. That gives Australia a massive cost advantage in local manufacturing and critical minerals, a similar framework in hydrogen. There's other production subsidies available in other categories. We are absolutely for this because it's in the national interest. But it's also, you know, I come from a country community. I know how much blue-collar jobs matter for regional communities, good quality, permanent jobs. And we're doing this to deliver a resurgence of industrialisation in regional economies. It is very hard to understand why Peter Dutton and the Liberals are opposing this, have voted against all of these propositions and are saying if Peter Dutton was to be elected, you know, in an election that's got to happen in the first half of this year, he's saying he would tear that down. That means all that investment disappears.
HOST: Look, let's talk a little bit more.
AYRES: About the current jobs are threatened.
HOST: Let's talk a little bit more about the aluminium and steel. One of the other big news stories of the day is the proposed 25% tariffs on exports to the US. How's that going to impact on a Future Made in Australia?
AYRES: Well, we're certainly, we're certainly being, you know, it's not a surprise that the Trump administration is moving in this direction. It's something that the Australian government has been preparing for. It's been apparent from what President Trump was saying in the lead up to the election. It's absolutely in the Australian interest that there be no impediments to trade and access to markets in the United States and right around the world. So, you've seen that there's, you know, obviously the full court press in terms of engagement with our friends in the United States has been going on. This is, I think today the Prime Minister has a phone call arranged with the President. That's his second discussion with the new, with the new President. The Deputy Prime Minister was in Washington over the weekend, left Parliament as soon as Parliament rose, flew to the United States, met with their new defence team, back in Australia for Parliament this week. Foreign Minister Penny Wong was there just a couple of weeks ago for the inauguration. Our officials, including our Washington team, are full scale engaged. It is an important bilateral relationship for Australia, but it's an important bilateral relationship for the Americans as well. There's a strong trade relationship. The Americans have a surplus, but Australia benefits that as well. And Australian aluminium and steel forms an important part of American manufacturing production. Processes in defence, in housing products, in a whole range of critical areas. It is absolutely in the interest of the United States that there is access for Australian producers, and we'll work those issues through carefully and systematically. Not megaphone diplomacy, not, not carrying on for the domestic political audience, but in a disciplined and careful way in the interests of Australian steel and aluminium producers and our economy more broadly.
HOST: Excellent. And look, at the end of the day, there's still opportunities there, regardless about what's just around the corner, if we can be the clever country. Tim Ayres. He's the Assistant Minister for Trade and Assistant Minister for a Future Made in Australia. Great to talk to you this morning. Thank you so much for your time. Cheers.
AYRES: Good on you, Murray. Catch you next time.
