NADIA MITSOPOULOS: I want to go to Madeleine King, who is the Federal Resources Minister. I feel like we're having this conversation on a regular basis at the moment. Minister, good morning.

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Yeah, good morning. And I'm sorry to say it does seem like we are repeating this conversation a lot, Nadia.

NADIA MITSOPOULOS: Did you see this coming?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Well, we knew that the price had dropped dramatically over the past year, but I mean, I can't say I saw this particular announcement with any advanced warning, unlike what happened with Nickel West. We had the opportunity to have long discussions with BHP, but I can't say I saw this dramatic turnaround. Because a year ago when I met with Albemarle, we were talking about another billion dollars going into those third and fourth units that you referred to. And now that is at an end and in fact, it shrunk even further.

NADIA MITSOPOULOS: Albemarle is saying those lithium prices will stay lower for longer. Do you agree with that assessment and what does that mean for WA?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Well, Albemarle's one of the biggest lithium producers in the world, so I think their forecasts - well clearly they were not right a year ago when they made a huge investment decision, but they're probably quite accurate now. Reality has sunk in after a year, and we have to be really honest about the international market. There's a drop of about 80 to 85 per cent in pricing in lithium over a rapid twelve month period, and it is sticking at that low ten dollars a kilo mark. So, that does look like it will persist, but the thing is about the decision by Albemarle. These are decisions made because of international market prices, like they said. But there are also decisions made a long way away from where these industries are. So, there'll be 300 workers who will have a bad time today and I really feel for them, and I'm sorry, there's been no warning for them. Because these are great jobs in and around Australia and Bunbury and Busselton, and they'll be feeling it. Albemarle’s said they'll go through proper processes, potential redundancies and so forth, but this is a decision made in North Carolina. Like Alcoa before in Kwinana, that was a decision taken in Pittsburgh. And even BHP's Nickel West decision was at a board meeting in Canada with their headquarters in Melbourne. So, for a Western Australian like me, these decisions seem quite distant from their communities - they do understand international market forces in play.

NADIA MITSOPOULOS: You mentioned 300 jobs there. The Australian Manufacturing Workers union told us they're aware of at least 100. What is your understanding? Have you been told it's 300.

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: I have been advised by Albemarle that it's 300 direct employees will be affected. I don't know what that effect might be. It might be a rearrangement of their workforce. And we'll be trying to find that out and get some more clarity from them immediately.

NADIA MITSOPOULOS: So, they didn't say to your Minister they could be redeployed or - I mean, that's a lot of workers.

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: It sure is. It sure is. And it's a lot of families and a big part of the community. It's a lot of people drive in, drive out to Kemerton. If you go down south, you'd pass it on your left as you head down -

NADIA MITSOPOULOS: Yeah, I know it well.

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Yeah, no, same - to Margaret river. So, we all see it, and we know the little communities - they're quite big communities now. And also they're building - and they said they would finish this - a workers village down there as well. So, there is a lot of work. And, I mean, I'm hoping the AWU have - their number is less. So, that would be better. But nonetheless, we think it's 300.

NADIA MITSOPOULOS: In the Budget you announced a production tax incentive for critical minerals, but this doesn't start till 2027. Again, I asked you this question in regards to nickel. Would this not be more helpful if it was started sooner?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: It would be more helpful to more operations, and we're going to look into bringing it forward. But I can't make any commitments in regard to that at the moment. It would not have helped Albemarle at this point, because the international price differentiation is so different. But I think, and I mentioned about how far away these decisions are. And then we've got companies that are in West Perth and in Osborne Park, like Mineral Resources, Wesfarmers, Liontown, Pilbara Minerals. All of these companies are Australian owned, have Australian interests. And, you know, I'm going to keep talking to them about what they can do to work with the production tax incentive to bring on more lithium processing here in this country and this state in particular.

NADIA MITSOPOULOS: So, you're looking at bringing that forward. You can't tell me when, but does that indicate that it's needed quicker? Are other companies suggesting potentially that they're going to have to downscale?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: No, actually, no one else is suggesting this. And I didn't get much warning about this one either. So, that's not what I'm hearing. But also, we've got to remember, there's only three sites where there is lithium hydroxide being produced. One is the Kemerton site. The other is - there's two in Kwinana, one of which is still under construction with Wesfarmers and SQM, the WesCEF project. So that they've not indicated any problems to us. They probably came into the production market at a different time. They might have different requirements from their customers. But I've got no other indication that anyone else is in the kind of trouble that Albermarle is.

NADIA MITSOPOULOS: I'll leave it there - appreciate your time. That is Madeleine King, she's the Federal Resources Minister. Interesting to hear her say she's now looking at seeing if she can bring that production tax incentive for critical minerals forward due to starting 2027. There has been some criticism, saying we need it now, so we'll watch this space and hopefully try and get some more clarity. 300 jobs.