KIERAN GILBERT: The Resources Minister, Madeleine King, joins me live in the studio. First of all, are you feeling confident that Australia can get this exemption given Mr Trump said that he's going to give it, quote, "great consideration"?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Well, thanks, Kieran. It's great to be here. I think you heard the Prime Minister earlier as well talk about the phone conversation, which was very productive and by all accounts, very thoughtful as well. And there's an agreement to consider an exemption and that's a really important step. And many people would have seen President Trump's press conference after, where he did say he would give great consideration. And I would note the reason he is minded, by the sound of things, to give great consideration is because of the trading relationship we have, that all important trade surplus, where, you know, the Australian people buy more things from America than they buy from us. So, the balance tips in their favour and this is obviously good for the US economy, it is good for us. And the same goes for investment as well: there's a lot of Australian investment, you know, over a trillion dollars in 2023 and nearly the same amount comes into Australia from the US. So, it's a very balanced relationship and it's very important to emphasise that to all Australians, but also to Americans as well.

KIERAN GILBERT: Again, President Trump said that he spoke to Mr Albanese, that he's a very fine man. Does it look like, in your view, that he's put the comments made in the past behind the relationship? Because you heard Peter Dutton there reminding -

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Indeed

KIERAN GILBERT:  … What Mr Albanese has said previously.

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Yeah, well, I agree with what President Trump has said: Anthony Albanese is a very fine man and a fine leader, and he'll act in the national interest as Prime Minister. And it clearly looks like we're in a good position to have fruitful, thoughtful, considered discussions on how we work with the Trump administration on the tariffs they're talking about.

KIERAN GILBERT: Yeah, okay. So, on the critical minerals as well, another area where you want to cooperate with the United States, the tax credit for production, that's gone through now?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Yeah, last night, a very big night in the Senate and a big night for Australia and a big night for the Australian resources sector, where a 10 per cent production tax incentive has passed through the Parliament. This is going to be a really important game changer for an industry that is emerging. It struggles under the weight of a manipulated international market, and it needs government support to get it where it needs to go. And really importantly this is something that I've been working with as Minister for Resources with the American - the former administration of the US and before that, President Trump's team were also very enlivened to the need for critical minerals and securing those supply chains.

KIERAN GILBERT: The Coalition is saying it wants to focus on broader reform like IR, changing some of those things that the industry is calling for as opposed to this. Do you accept that the industry is split in terms of their view on these various policies?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: The industry is very supportive of the production tax incentives. It was industry-led. I spent 18 months working on this policy with industry and we've had many discussions. It was staggering to me that the Opposition dismissed this policy without even looking at it within an hour of the budget speech or something like that. WA Liberals are clearly disappointed, but they've had to toe the party line.

KIERAN GILBERT: How does - sorry, in political terms, is this a winner for you in WA?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: It's a winner for the whole Australian resources sector.

KIERAN GILBERT: Will you save your seats there? Will you save your - 

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: I am very confident in the support for the Albanese Labor government in Western Australia, just as I'm very confident of the support for the Cook Labor government in Western Australia. But this is a pro resources - it is the single biggest government investment in the resources sector ever. Like full stop. $17 billion. That's how big it is. Plus, the $3 billion for Geoscience Australia to explore for our future. And the production tax credits have simply been dismissed by the Opposition quickly without reason, without thought and now they're scrambling for excuses why they voted against it last night. Well, there'll be a reckoning for the WA Liberals and their anti-WA, anti-Queensland position on production tax credits for critical minerals.

KIERAN GILBERT: Madeleine King, thanks for your time.

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Thanks very much.

KIERAN GILBERT: Appreciate it.