MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Well, it's great to be here in Mackay at Queensland Mining and Engineering Exhibit, a 30-year-old institution here in Mackay, demonstrating just how amazing the Queensland resources sector is. 

But another thing I want to talk about today is a really important milestone for the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility. So, just this month, the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility has reached a $2 billion milestone. That means $2 billion has gone into projects right across Northern Australia, 15 of which are right here in Queensland. Locally, in Mackay, that's $43 million to the upgrade of the local airport and $130 million to the upgrade of the very important Cairns Airport as well. What is really important about the NAIF and the projects - it creates jobs right across Queensland, the Northern Territory and Northwest Western Australia. So, over the past number of years, the projects are getting bigger and better and now we have this really important $2 billion milestone. Recently, early this year, the government extended the remit of NAIF. We have four billion in commitments, two billion drawn down, and another three billion to go in the whole NAIF space. And that is really important for driving the economy and opportunity of far North Queensland, North Queensland and Central Queensland, as well as the Northern Territory and Northwest of Western Australia. 

I want to talk about, while I'm here, the government's Critical Minerals Production Tax credit system. What we announced in the recent budget is that those who invest in Australian jobs, and Australia, and process critical minerals and rare earth elements here in Australia will be entitled to a 10 per cent production tax credit. This will drive investment into an emerging industry that is always susceptible to shocks from the international market. Now, what I want to let Queenslanders know is how disappointed I am, how disappointed they should be that three Queensland leaders oppose this game changer policy. The Leader of the Opposition, Peter Dutton, the Leader of the Nationals, David Littleproud, and also the Shadow Minister for Resources and Senator for Queensland, Susan McDonald. All three of these Queenslanders have openly rejected the production tax credit incentive. And what that means is they have no confidence in the Queensland resources sector. And that is a crying shame. And I'm calling that out here, at the QME conference here in Mackay because it is places like Mackay, and places like Townsville, and all across North Queensland that stand to benefit from this government, this Labor Government's production tax credit for critical minerals and rare earth elements. So, everyone should get on their phones to these three Queenslanders and tell them they're doing the wrong thing by the Queensland resources sector. With that, I'll take any questions.

JOURNALIST: Just on that NAIF funding, you mentioned a couple of projects that have benefited in Mackay. But are there any others planned to benefit from the rest of the funding?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: There is a pipeline of projects that are being worked on right now with the NAIF, but at the moment, the one closest to here is the Mackay Airport, which is - you appreciate, is really important for the workforce that comes here, but also very importantly for tourism.

JOURNALIST: And I guess here today at this event, how important is an event like this for the resources sector?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: The QME event is amazing and it's the first time I've been here I've got to admit, but I've had a good walk around. What is excellent about events like this is showing people who want to come here and do come here, school kids, families that can't go out to the mine sites because they really become dangerous, the level of technology involved, and the hard work involved in the resources sector. So, events like QME are just a real, are so vitally important for everyone to understand more about the resources sector, and the engineering capability of Australia's resources sector, particularly here in Queensland. It's world leading and it shows the products we make that go to the world, that the world needs. That includes LNG and also metallurgical coal from here in Mackay. Just last night I flew in, you can see the ships out in the water, out of the Mackay port here, and I think there's nearly 40 of them all waiting to take met coal to build steel right across Asia. And that's a really important contribution to our region.

JOURNALIST: And I know you kind of did the speech a little bit earlier today. Tell me a little bit about what you were talking about there.

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Well, in that speech, I acknowledge the very important role of Queensland resources to the national economy. For all the resources that are mined and processed here in Queensland, it provides income into the national economy, provides income to the Queensland economy, it provides jobs for everyday Queenslanders. So, I talked about that, but also about the really important new diversification of the resources sector into critical minerals and rare earth elements. And that's why getting support and production tax credit incentive is important because that will drive billions upon billions of dollars of international investment right here in Mackay. But also, wherever else there are deposits, vanadium, for instance, outside of North Queensland as well. These things are important to the transition to clean energy, but also, they will combine with our traditional resources, like iron ore in Western Australia, my home state. Particularly met coal here in Queensland to make the wind turbines, the stands for your solar panels, your cars, the shells for your EV's, all these things. Everything's got to come together and that's what we spoke about today.

JOURNALIST: And then just separately, I'm not sure if you will be able to comment at all. But with the Grosvenor Mine, the last [indistinct] do you have any update on where that's at?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: I don't have any update. I've been in close contact with the mine operators and the government here in Queensland and Scott Stewart, the Queensland Minister. It's a very serious matter, but they have been working assiduously to make the place safe. No one's been injured, which we're very thankful for. I think it goes to show the risks associated with mining and how so vitally important workers’ safety and mine safety is, which is what the QME exhibit is demonstrating as well through all the technology. So, I have no further update, but I do understand now that the mine has been shut off, so to speak, so there's no more smoke. This will be kind of confronting for the community to see, because it is confronting, so I'm just very glad that people are safe, and we will work with the operators to make sure that continues to be the case. 

JOURNALIST: [Indistinct].

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Sorry, I couldn't quite hear that.

JOURNALIST: How were the Grosvenor workers [indistinct].

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: My understanding - the mine operator is obviously speaking to those workers. The mining union is doing exactly the same thing and there's been a lot of engagement between the company and the union, and the workers involved. And that's really important because obviously that mine has now shut down. We don't know when it will reopen, if at all, and that will affect, of course, it will affect their future in that operation. It's a big deal, no doubt about it. There's been a lot of communication and I'm really grateful for that.