MICHAEL CLARKE, HOST: Well, the Federal Government says it's awarded Major Project Status to a North Queensland project that it says serves key social, economic and energy objectives for the country. Project Clean Wafers from the Stellar PV company is planned to establish Australia's first commercial scale 2-gigawatt silicon ingot and photovoltaic wafer manufacturing facility. Sounds fairly complicated but has a big part to play in energy needs. According to the Federal Minister for Industry and Innovation and the Minister for Science Senator Tim Ayres. The project will be built at Townsville's Lansdown Eco Precinct. And I spoke to the Minister earlier today about the latest.
SENATOR TIM AYRES, MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY AND INNOVATION AND MINISTER FOR SCIENCE: Well Stellar PV, the Albanese Government's awarded Major Project Status. It is a very significant North Queensland project: $500 million in investment from Stellar PV into a new solar PV wafer manufacturing facility. So, it's part of the clean energy supply chain manufacturing, good blue-collar jobs, around 300 good blue-collar jobs in the region. We're looking forward to this project making progress and Major Project Status is the contribution that the Albanese Government can make here to making sure that we get this project moving.
HOST: And so what does that status actually mean in terms of making sure the project can be a reality?
AYRES: Well it means the resources of my department are directed towards making sure that the company gets some support to go through the approvals process. This project, like any other project, has to get the right environmental approvals. But this indicates that it's a high priority project for the government. It fits squarely into our Future Made in Australia agenda. That is the biggest pro-manufacturing package of any Australian government in our history. It'll strengthen our position in local and global supply chains. You know, most solar panels are made overseas, most of them made in one country. Australia has a vast requirement for solar energy as we rebuild our electricity grid and move to the lowest cost reliable sources of power. It makes a big difference for our future economic resilience if we're making components like silicon wafers here in Australia. And this will produce 300 good blue-collar jobs in North Queensland.
HOST: And this would be located at the Lansdown Eco Precinct which has been a focus of development for some time. Is that correct?
AYRES: Yeah, it'll be at Lansdown, close to Woodstock there. That whole precinct will produce 5,000 construction jobs and about 1,600 – it’s estimated – permanent blue-collar technical and engineering jobs. That's a win for North Queensland. But it's in Australia's national interest for us to strengthen our economic resilience. Build the electricity supply chain of the future. Support manufacturing firms to get onto lower cost reliable electricity and modernise their capital and become more efficient. This is a win for the country and it's a win for the North Queensland economy. And it delivers good blue-collar jobs and re-industrialises a region which needs exactly that kind of investment for its economic future.
HOST: What's the time frame with this project? If it does get up and running, what are you hopeful to see?
AYRES: Well, I'd love to see it being built tomorrow of course. I'd cheerfully get up there with a shovel myself and get stuck into it.
HOST: But realistically.
AYRES: We'll have to go through the approval processes. It's the beginning of the process, delivering Major Project Status. There's not, in front of me, a commencement date, but this will mean that it will be brought on faster. It'll have an operational life, this project, of around 30 years. So, it's a long duration project. I'd like to be in a position to say it'll start in 2027 or 2028. The project proponents who will be launching this this morning may have more to say about their ambitions for a start date, but I'll leave those announcements to them.
HOST: Well, we do thank you for your time this morning sharing this news with us today, Senator Tim Ayres, much appreciated.
AYRES: Thanks very much.
HOST: The Federal Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, Senator Tim Ayres with that news. That Project Clean Wafers, which is being developed by Stellar PV at the Lansdown Precinct, is being awarded the major project status from the Federal Government. Meaning that gets a little bit of tick of approval, bit of support there for the work that's going to happen there at Lansdown, providing local jobs as well. We'll keep an eye on how that develops over time.
