DANICA DE GIORGIO: Well, hundreds of workers are set to lose their jobs after aluminium refinery Alcoa announced its plan to shut down operations in the WA city of Kwinana. Joining me now live is Resources Minister Madeleine King, whose electorate encompasses Kwinana. Minister, thank you so much for joining us. Alcoa has been under pressure for years. Should the Federal Government have sought to intervene and help the company to try and prevent this closure?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: It's good to be with you, Danica, and hello to all your viewers. The thing is - this is a commercial decision. The Alcoa refinery at Kwinana is a 60-year-old facility, it's faced many challenges over many years. Of course, that is no consolation for the hundreds of workers that will be affected by this decision of Alcoa, and of course, it affects their families greatly as well. The truth is there are things that no government could have changed in relation to the Kwinana refinery, and that is the bauxite grade. We cannot change geology. That is the gift we have in this country, and sometimes it doesn't work out in eternity. So, that's a reality that the Kwinana refinery faced. And also, it's an ageing facility, as I said, 60 years old, similar to the BP refinery, which was a bit older. These two refineries have been the bookends of the Kwinana industrial area. They have driven economic development of this state for those six decades. But refineries cannot last forever, sadly, and that is the case at the Kwinana refinery for Alcoa.

DANICA DE GIORGIO: Alcoa had asked for better quality bauxite, but it was plagued by delays and red tape. What could government have done to try and move that along?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Well, the matter of the bauxite is a matter of permissions for the state government here in Western Australia. And just recently, they did extend the permissions for Alcoa to have access to that bauxite. But as Alcoa themselves have stated, the quality of the bauxite as it relates to new permissions granted by the state government didn't affect this decision. So, what the state government did or could have done does not bear on this decision. That, again, is no consolation to the workers and their families affected, or indeed to the communities of Kwinana and Rockingham, where I live, that will be affected by this decision.

DANICA DE GIORGIO: What is the impact on Australian supplies of aluminium and alumina now, by this decision?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: There is a minor decrease in the supply of alumina. But even with the Kwinana refinery curtailing its production, Australia will remain the largest exporter of alumina in the world, and it will remain the second-largest producer of alumina in the entire world. So, there is no threat whatsoever to the supply chain of alumina in this country. And there is no threat to the sovereign capability of Australians being able to refine bauxite to make alumina in this country. Alcoa will keep in operation its Wagerup and Pinjarra refineries, and I expect many of the workers from the Kwinana refinery will redeploy to those refineries as well. So, Australia will retain that sovereign capability and capacity to produce alumina right here.

DANICA DE GIORGIO: Minister, before we let you go, I just want to ask you about the coal price cap. Household power bills could spike in the middle of the year if the government doesn't extend it beyond that mid-year cut-off. This could be crippling for families already struggling with the cost-of-living crisis, are you comfortable with that?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Look, what I know is the cost of living has an enormous effect on Australian families and households on the east coast and the west coast. As a government, we, of course, will look at the price cap as we go through the year. My colleague Chris Bowen has a very eagle eye on the pricing for power and energy in this country and the whole cabinet does as well. We will make sure that Australians have access to affordable energy into the future.

DANICA DE GIORGIO: Madeleine King, we'll leave it there. Thank you so much for joining us this afternoon.

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Thank you, Danica. Thank you.