SENATOR TIM AYRES, MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY AND INNOVATION AND MINISTER FOR SCIENCE: All right. Well, first of all, welcome here to Glencore's Mount Isa smelter facility. Really pleased to be here with Troy Wilson, who's responsible for Glencore in Australia, Adam Purkis, the General Manager, and the whole team from Glencore Mount Isa who welcomed Minister Dale Last and I to this facility. 

We're here, of course, with Peta MacRae as well who's the Mayor of Mount Isa, and I'm really pleased to announce that the two governments, the Albanese Government and the Crisafulli Government have come together with a rescue package for the Glencore facility here, that is a three‑year arrangement. The total value of the package, which is a 50 per cent cost share between the Queensland Government and the Commonwealth Government is $600 million. 

The package has a two‑year component which is two lots of $200 million, and the third year will be delivered, of course, contingent on all of the parties to this arrangement complying with their obligations under the agreement. 

This agreement ‑‑ 

[Technical interruption]

AYRES: I just want to say a couple of things about this arrangement to secure the future of this vital Regional Queensland and national asset. 

The first is that it's taken work and agreement and commitment between the three parties to the agreement, and an agreement to share costs between Glencore and Queensland and the Commonwealth Government. While capital is being provided by the Commonwealth and Queensland Governments on a 50/50 basis, it is also Glencore's responsibility to run the facility over the course of that period, and Glencore will continue to experience some losses over the course of that agreement. 

But this is an investment in the future industrial capability of the northwest province in Queensland. See, the people behind me here are the real heroes of this story, working really hard in this vital, national outback industrial facility that produces copper for Australia and the world, the hard work, of course, starts here. All of the work that is going to be engaged on between the governments, Glencore, the miners, this regional community, the workforce, the trade unions, we're here with Stacey Schinnerl, the State Secretary of the Australian Workers' Union as well. Everybody's got a part to play in a Future Made in Australia, that's why the Albanese Government is determined to back heavy industry like this, to back workers and companies that are investing in the future of Australian manufacturing. 

The last thing I want to say is just to put on record my gratitude and the Commonwealth Government's gratitude to the way that we've worked with Minister Dale Last and Premier Crisafulli in the Queensland Government. 

These kind of arrangements take a focus on what is in the State and national interest and in the commercial interests of the company and a focus on working together in a partnership to achieve the right outcome. 

And I know that for the people of Mount Isa and Townsville and communities like Cloncurry who rely upon this facility, this has been an agonizing wait, a period of uncertainty, and we have worked together assiduously and carefully in the national interest and the Queensland interest to make sure that we deliver an arrangement that delivers for this facility, that delivers for Australian manufacturing and delivers for Australia and Queensland. 

I'll be very happy to take some questions after Minister Dale Last makes some comments and Troy Wilson from Glencore, thank you. 

DALE LAST: Thanks Tim and can I also start by acknowledging Minister Ayers here today, Mayor Peta MacRae from Mount Isa Council, of course the Glencore senior leadership team, and all the workers who are standing here behind me today. 

Within two weeks of taking up office as the Minister for Mines in this state, I met with Glencore to discuss the future of this smelter, the future of this community, and I came to this community in June of this year, and I stood up and I made a commitment; I made a commitment to the Mount Isa community that I wouldn't see it wither, that I wouldn't see this community die. This is a proud community. People who live out here, they're tough, they're tough people, they're resilient, they're working in a pretty harsh environment, but they're proud, they're proud to live in the northwest and proud to be able to work at this facility. 

And today we're delivering on that commitment, a commitment that's been forged over many, many months, over many long hours of negotiations, and I acknowledge the teams at both State and Federal level, and of course the Glencore staff who worked many, many weekends and many, many long hours to pull together this Heads of Agreement which we hope to have executed by the end of this month, an agreement, as the Minister said, of two years plus one. We were adamant from day one that the Queensland Government's commitment here, the funding commitment from the Queensland Government would go into the upgrades, the new capital equipment that's needed for the continued operation of this smelter here at Mount Isa. 

And that will be great news, I know, for the workers behind me, that you've got some new capital spend happening, some upgrades, some new facilities that are about to come online, because we want to grow this sector, this particular smelter producing half the copper produced in Australia. 

This smelter is pivotal, not just to Mount Isa Northwest, but Incitec Pivot Fertilizer Plant, the copper refinery in Townsville those 600 direct jobs and the thousands of indirect jobs that hang off the continued operation of this smelter, and we're proud to stand shoulder to shoulder with this community, with the Federal Government, with Glencore to ensure the continued operation going forward. 

There's two review points built into this agreement, there's a transformation study happening next year looking at the bigger picture, what's happening in the Northwest Minerals Province, how can we grow it, how can sustain it, how can we value add. 

There's a good news story here, but we have to work to make it happen. We've got the commitment, we've got the cooperation between State and Federal Government, we're going to now move forward with developing this area to secure this community's future, but also to develop that critical minerals space in Queensland and indeed Australia. 

Thanks, over to you, Troy. 

TROY WILSON: Thank you and good morning. Over the last 20 years, Glencore's operations have been a centrepiece to the copper and zinc supply chain. Our smelter is one of the only ‑ is the only smelter in Australia that can treat materials from other mines from across the region and from across Australia. 

It's important to recognise that ‑ excuse me for a moment. Along with the refinery, these assets create an economic foundation for 600 direct jobs and many more, and thousands more jobs across the State. 

Copper is a critical metal to the future. The competition in the global smelting market is fierce, and it's not a level playing field, with countries trying to take strategic positions in the market. 

We support the government's push to develop policies that protect Australia's metal manufacturing sector, and also to create affordable and reliable energy. This is important and significant to the Australian national economic interests. 

But let me be very clear, Glencore has invested heavily into this region for a long period of time and will continue to do so. In the future we see investments of over $2.5 billion in the northwest precinct. 

On behalf of Glencore and our workforce, I'd like to thank the Australian and Queensland Governments for getting behind the region and supporting these assets and providing this lifeline. 

And in particular I'd like to thank our workforce, who have worked ‑ who have been very consistent in their support and shown high levels of resilience over the past eight months; it's really been quite significant. 

And finally, I'd like to acknowledge the advocacy and support of the Mount Isa city Council, the Australian Workers' Union and the Townsville Enterprise Limited. Thank you. I’ll send it back to the Minister. 

AYRES: Happy to take any questions. 

JOURNALIST: Minister, one for you and then one for Mr Wilson. Glencore is an optimal large foreign multinational. Why should Australian taxpayers rather than Glencore's shareholders be bailing out this facility? And then for Mr Wilson, how much has Glencore invested in this facility over the past five years? 

AYRES: Well, you heard Troy's outline of Glencore's commitment to the region and their prospective investments in the region, and of course Australia is in a fight for global capital and global investment in our manufacturing capability, particularly in metal manufacturing, as Troy pointed out, and this facility plays a special role in Australia's industrial capability. 

It is, yes, the hundreds of jobs that are engaged right here behind you in the Mount Isa smelter, it's the hundreds of jobs in the refinery in Townsville, refining further the copper anodes that are produced here in Mount Isa, it's Phosphate Hill, which is absolutely reliant and Incitec Divot, absolutely reliant upon the operations of these facilities. 

So there are thousands and thousands of direct jobs and indirect jobs that are in this region that rely upon this facility continuing to operate. 

Beyond that, this is a region that should be the Silicon Valley of critical minerals processing for a Future Made in Australia. It's enormous mineral deposits, strategic metals like copper, but critical minerals as well, and securing this asset is an important part of securing a Future Made in Australia. 

So it's about jobs, it's about this community, it's about backing Australian manufacturing, but it's also about a clear‑eyed assessment of what is in Australia's national interest in strategic and economic resilience terms. 

JOURNALIST: Mr Wilson how much has Glencore invested in [indistinct] in the last five years?  

WILSON: Glencore's had a long history of investing in the region. We've invested, you know, $10 billion since 2003 between ourselves and as part of the Xstrata business, and on top of we've invested 30 billion in operating expenses over that same period. 

As I just mentioned, we're going to invest into the future as well, where we're committing $2.5 billion of planned or proposed investments just in this Northwest Queensland region, which will likely include our Black Star Open Cut project. 

JOURNALIST: Mr Wilson, Glencore have literally been asking for I believe $2.2 billion over 10 years. Is what the Government's put on to the table and what you've accepted enough, and what you're doing, is that enough to kind of safeguard some potential future market distortions, and you know, prepare the industry for what might come next? 

WILSON: We've been clear about the challenges in the industry, and we recognise that there's still tough times ahead of us. In particular the next two years we see as being particularly challenging for the industry. 

But the agreement that we've landed together with the government provides an important lifeline for three years, where we can sit back, we can monitor the market, and we can make sure that we work together to find solutions for the region and also for the country. 

JOURNALIST: If you had a longer‑term funding model or government contribution, would that provide you with greater confidence moving forward and more ability to invest and keep investing in this facility? 

WILSON: We believe three years gives us time to monitor the market's reaction and it gives us important opportunity to support 600 workers between the smelter and the refinery. 

JOURNALIST: Just a last one for you, if I can. Can you let us know what role Ian Davies played in striking the deal and if his consultancy contract with the government. 

WILSON: Well, look, certainly Ian Davies has provided invaluable advice, very widely respected across the resource sector and the industry, very, very astute business operator and his advice certainly helped in those early stages with the negotiations and putting together this proposal we've reached today. 

JOURNALIST: Will he continue to be ‑‑ 

WILSON: And his services on the signing of this agreement will no longer be required, I'm pleased to say. 

JOURNALIST: What are some of the strings attached to this arrangement; what conditions or obligations does Glencore have as a company? 

WILSON: So there's two review points built into this agreement, one next year, one in 2027. There's also a transformation study to be undertaken next year. That's an important study, that's looking at the bigger picture here, what does this region offer, how can we take it forward, what needs to be developed? 

There are a number of significant copper projects coming online in the next couple of years, [indistinct] Copper Project, Carnaby as an example. They will be pivotal to the continued operation of this smelter. At the moment they're having to bring in ore from elsewhere. We want to be able to develop those copper deposits in this region to continue the operation of this particular smelter. 

In addition, we've got an Oversight Committee who will be meeting monthly. We don't just sign this agreement today and then walk away for three years. We're going to keep our finger on the pulse, we're going to work with Glencore, we're going to make sure that we are there every step of the way over this next three years to ensure the continued operation of this smelter. We're not taking a short‑term look at this, we want this smelter to continue for decades. 

JOURNALIST: Can you ‑‑ 

WILSON: It is so important. A re‑bricking of the smelter is part of that commitment from the Queensland Government, that's four to five years of security that Glencore need for that smelter to continue operating. That's just one example. 

JOURNALIST: Can you spell out ‑‑ 

JOURNALIST: Who's going to be on that Committee? 

WILSON: Sorry? 

JOURNALIST: Who's going to be on that Committee? 

WILSON: Representatives from the three parties that you see here today. 

JOURNALIST: So, can you see spell out what dictates whether Glencore gets that third year of funding, like what criteria do they have to meet in order to get that funding? 

WILSON: Well, certainly that's what the review points are built into this agreement for; that's exactly why they are there, to review the operation, how is it going, what does that Black Star development look like and what's happening, what does the smelter need. We're going to be monitoring that capital investment in this particular smelter to see what gets rolled out over that couple of years. It's certainly about keeping an eye on what's going on here, working in conjunction with Glencore to ensure that it continues to operate. 

JOURNALIST: Minister Ayers ‑‑ 

AYRES: Yep. 

JOURNALIST: ‑‑ this facility's previously received government funding or [indistinct]. 

AYRES: Yeah ‑‑ 

JOURNALIST: ‑‑ thanks to the State Government. 

AYRES: Yep. 

JOURNALIST: How confident are you that we won't be back here in three years' time [indistinct] taxpayers' money. 

AYRES: Just wait for our friend here to drive past. I just want to respond in part to that question as well, then come to your question, Michael. 

This is a three‑way partnership, and what it means is that we will be working together over the course of the three years, and that's really important to emphasise. Of course there are review points and there's a process for all of the parties to work through as we honour the obligations that we have made together, but I just really want to emphasise, this is all of us here; the two governments, Glencore, but also the workers and the community who stand with us today doing all of the things that are required to make sure that this facility producing a strategic metal for Australia is in the best condition that it can be and that regional industrial ecosystem is all pointed in the one direction in the national interest. 

So, we have got a lot of work to do. This is not a tick and flick, we have to fight for a Future Made in Australia, we have to work for it, and that is what we are going to do. 

And for your question, of course, historically these kind of facilities, whether it's here in Queensland or in other States, have often been engaged with State Governments for support around infrastructure like the re‑bricking and all of those associated processes. 

The Commonwealth Government is engaged here because there is ‑ there are challenges right across Australian heavy industry, driven by overcapacity in global markets, uncertainty in terms of our trading relationships, really tough market conditions for copper that we don't expect ‑ we know that copper has a very strong future in global markets because it's crucial to production in terms of defence, in terms of communications, in terms of the renewable energy sector, computer chips, all of those applications require copper in large volumes. 

There are global trade distortions at the moment. We are going to work our way through them with Glencore to secure this facility for the future and make sure Australia's got the capacity to deliver that industrial capability in the national interest. 

JOURNALIST: Does the agreement also include a guarantee from Glencore that it won't scale back any of its operation or cut any jobs at all? 

AYRES: Glencore's made commitments about the scale of its continued operations here. That's what you would expect. We will keep ‑‑ 

JOURNALIST: So ‑ sorry. 

AYRES: The answer is yes. 

JOURNALIST: Yeah. 

JOURNALIST: Minister. 

AYRES: Yes, you and then you.

JOURNALIST: Minister, two questions. Firstly, just on the details, when does this deal kick in; the start of the next financial year, or? 

AYRES: So the agreement will be paid in quarterly instalments that will commence very, very shortly indeed. 

JOURNALIST: The other question I have is, this whole region, including the smelter, is powered by gas currently. 

AYRES: Yep. 

JOURNALIST: We've got people from [indistinct] here with us today ‑‑ 

AYRES: Yep. 

JOURNALIST: ‑‑ that are very nervous about the gas situation in Australia, Phosphate Hill relies on gas, it won't be connected to copper stream, you know, there's an argument that, you know, some of these facilities wouldn't need funding around Australia if there had have been a gas policy. Is this ‑ over the next three years does Australia need to get a better gas policy to hope for that these refineries and smelters et cetera are sufficient going forward? 

AYRES: Yeah, if we could separate those two issues out; one, the global market conditions are very tough at the moment, but secondly, of course gas and gas supply, gas availability and reliability and price are big challenges for Australian manufacturing, that is why the Albanese Government has commissioned this review on the commencement of our second term, a review into the arrangements around gas. 

You saw the Government intervene in a very direct way in terms of coal and gas prices following Russia's illegal invasion of Ukraine and the impact that had, a global energy shock, so we have used the existing mechanisms that the Albanese Government has demonstrated it's prepared to intervene further, and Minister Bowen is leading a review of the gas arrangements over the course of the next few months, and of course there's a similar review happening that will have a bearing on the electricity market arrangements as well. Sorry, yeah. 

JOURNALIST: Minister, this is the fourth government relief package that's been announced this year. Should Australian taxpayers expect this to kind of keep happening as China continues to distort the market, and Mr Wilson, another for you, if I can, do you stand here today and making a commitment to the people of Mount Isa and to the region that there won't be job losses, that you'll do everything you can to [indistinct] in three years' time? 

AYRES: Well, we are working our way through as a government these key industrial facilities, and we've made announcements, of course, over the last few months around Nyrstar's operations in Port Pirie, the Whyalla Steel Works, with a very strong intervention from the South Australian and Federal Governments, Hobart's Nyrstar facility, this facility. 

We're working our way through these things in the disciplined way that Australians would expect from the Albanese Labor Government. We are pro‑manufacturing. We have the biggest pro‑manufacturing package in Australian history introduced by this government that shows our determination to lift our industrial capability, but also Australians would expect that we are very cautious and conservative with using government resources in the national interest to achieve national interest objectives. 

That's why, of course, the discussions between the Queensland Government led by Minister Last in these negotiations and the Commonwealth Government has been a careful working through a 50/50 cost sharing arrangement, and then it's been carefully worked through with our partners in Glencore. 

That's what Australians can expect, a government that's unashamedly blue collar and in support of Australian manufacturing but absolutely determined to act in the national interest. 

I'll hand over to Troy. 

WILSON: Glencore's committed to its workforce, we're committed to the agreement that we just signed with the Government. We know that there's some really difficult times, particularly in the next two years, but we do recognise that in the long‑term there's potential for the improvement in the global conditions that Minister Ayers just referred to. 

So our role is to really focus now on doing the best thing we can to ensure we keep our employees at work, the 600 employees between the smelter and the refinery and we'll work together with government looking for solutions for some of these challenges that we're still faced with, including the cost of energy, which is something that's quite material to our business. 

JOURNALIST: What will this money go towards? Will it go straight on the balance sheet of Glencore, or will it actually go into investing in the capital here and in expanding operations? 

WILSON: The agreement's broken into three components; working capital and other capital investments. One of the changes that we need to make at this smelter is that moving forward we're only going to have third party concentrates, and what that means is that we need to reconfigure the smelter operator a bit differently. So that will be investments that it will take to ensure we can recover more metal from these other concentrates that come from regional suppliers and across the country. 

JOURNALIST: Did the agreement stipulate anything on jobs; did it include a proviso that all 600 employees should keep their jobs over the next 3 years?  

WILSON: I didn't really want to get into all the details of the agreement, but yes, there's conditions in the agreement that require us to maintain our work. 

JOURNALIST: How confident are you you're going to be able to get enough concentrate over the next couple of years? It's just that everything's going to be third party, so, we've got Ernest Henry up the road and some other copper mines in the region, but nothing on as big a scale [indistinct]. How confident are you that Glencore's going to be able to provide enough feed for the smelter and the refinery? 

WILSON: Well, we're already doing our part there. We've got a marketing business that supports regional miners through off‑take agreements, through debt or equity arrangements, and what that does is it really promotes and brings available capital to these junior miners to really help them get a head start. 

But I think it's also important for government to work through the processes required to enable those projects to be approved quickly, to be able to bring them forward, and to make them available to the smelter. 

JOURNALIST: You're still in the pre‑feasibility study with Black Star. Was there any conditions tied to Black Star at all with this agreement, because I know the Minister last talked earlier in the year about, you know, not necessarily an agreement, but certainly about [indistinct] approvals and making sure you can cut some of that red tape and get things moving. 

WILSON: Again, I don't want to go into all the details of the agreement, but you know, Black Star Open Cut is a project that we're very interested in, it's getting towards the end of its study phases, and we're looking forward to taking that project forward if it makes it through the investment hurdles. 

JOURNALIST: Minister Ayres, how much of the $200 billion each year is cash and how much is taxes? 

AYRES: This is a direct contribution from the Commonwealth and Queensland Governments on a 50/50 basis, so a shared approach. It will all be in a direct financial contribution. 

JOURNALIST: Were any incentives in the tax space discussed as part of this agreement? 

AYRES: No. No. 

JOURNALIST: And will that be paid lump sum at the start of each year, or ‑‑ 

AYRES: It will be paid incrementally over the course of the agreement. 

JOURNALIST: And the Opposition, Federal Opposition today has come out and said that the Federal Government dithered, and that a deal should have been reached months ago, and the delay has hurt confidence in investment. 

AYRES: Yeah. 

JOURNALIST: Why did it take so long? 

AYRES: Well, this is an agreement that's got to be carefully struck in the national interest. I could tell you that the future of these industrial facilities around Australia is something that the Commonwealth Government is very focused on, has being very diligent on approaching, and I would say, if I could just make a small part as an observation, if you're going to ask a short partisan question, not drafted by you of course, there's a lot of Federal Liberal and National MPs posing alongside other people's muscle cars, talking about Australian manufacturing when when they were in government, what did they do? They forced the automotive industry offshore, Australian manufacturing got smaller, and they talked the industry down. 

I remember the Minister for Defence Industry saying, when confronted with the big national challenge of building submarines and ships for Australia, vital jobs in each State, he said Australians couldn't build a canoe. 

Well, we're not there to talk Australian manufacturing down, we're there to talk Australian manufacturing up and deliver for manufacturing and work with partners like the Queensland Government, Premier Crisafulli, Minister Dale Last, Peter Malinauskas and Tom Koutsantonis in South Australia, the Tasmanian government, working to secure the future of these facilities in a real practical way that delivers, not about slogans, but about delivery. 

ENDS.