Media conference with Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and Member for Swan Zaneta Mascarenhas.

ZANETA MASCARENHAS: Good morning and welcome everyone. It’s fabulous to be here at Curtin University. My name’s Zaneta Mascarenhas, I’m an engineer by trade, studied at this University, and also the Member for Swan. It’s great to have Prime Minister Anthony Albanese here, as well as the Minister for Resources, Madeleine King, and a shout-out to all the researches that are here and of course, Harlene Hayne. It’s so wonderful to be here and WA is so important to Australia and so is Curtin University. And one of things that we know about this university is that it wants to make tomorrow better. And that's something that the Albanese Labor Government fundamentally wants to do. And so we have something exciting to share, and I'll hand over to Anthony.

PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, thanks very much Zaneta. And can I give a big shout out to the researchers here and the staff at Curtin University for showing us around today, sharing their knowledge, their innovation, and what are exciting opportunities for Australia. The vision of this university is one that sees Western Australia in particular in a position to diversify its economy, in a position to take advantage of the exciting opportunities in space exploration, in science, in research, in the transformation that will see in our global economy move towards a clean energy economy.

And the difference that critical minerals will make in that transformation, a transformation that will see jobs created, a transformation that can see Australia become a renewable energy superpower for the world. And here in the West, there are particular advantages that Western Australia has going forward. There are advantages in the ground, in terms of minerals and the access which is here in WA. There are advantages in the sky, with the best solar resources in the world. But the biggest advantages are the people who are standing here with us today, the human resources that are here in the West. Using the capacity of institutions like Curtin University to take advantage of the opportunity that Australia has, to be a smarter country, to be a more innovative country, to be a country that leads the world in research and in making the most of the commercial opportunities that come from that research. And that was what was so exciting today. The pursuit of knowledge is an end in itself. That is important and that's why we value universities and the whole experience of knowledge and learning. But in science there are also commercial opportunities that arise from that. And here at Curtin we can see that in the future and today's announcements are part of that.

Today I'm announcing new initiatives to accelerate the growth of the critical mineral sector and support clean energy technologies as we move towards net zero. Australia's natural resources are so important, but we need to develop a new critical minerals strategy nationally, in consultation with industry stakeholders and also, of course, part of that is with traditional owners. We have some of the world’s largest reserves of critical minerals and the new strategy will set a vision for the sector. It will also complement other Government initiatives including the national battery strategy and the electric vehicle strategy which we are rolling out.

A major component of the election campaign where we were successful five months ago today, we commemorate, is the creation of our National Reconstruction Fund. One of the lessons of the pandemic is that we need to be more self-reliant, we need to be more resilient, we can’t just sit back and allow ourselves to be at the end of global supply chains. We need, to put it simply, we need to make more stuff here, it’s that simple. Not export our minerals, wait for the values to be added somewhere else and then import them back at much higher value. We have that capacity here, the capacity to create jobs while we’re doing it. Our National Reconstruction Fund will include $1 billion for the Value Adding In Resources Fund and it will work alongside the $2 billion Critical Minerals Facility. And next week's budget will include $50.5 million over four years for the Australian Critical Minerals Research and Development Hub, combining expertise from agencies to work with industry to address challenges and support research.

We’ll also deliver $50 million over three years to the Critical Minerals Development Program, through grants for projects, building on the $50 million that we recently committed to six projects around Australia. These initiatives are really exciting. They will create and support local jobs, diversify global supply chains, and meet the growing demand which is there for batteries, electric vehicles and clean energy technology. The International Energy Agency projects mineral demand for use in electric vehicles and battery storage could grow by at least 30 times to the year 2040. The development of a battery industry here in Australia could contribute $7.4 billion annually, each and every year to our economy, and be supporting over 34,000 jobs by the end of this decade. We need to not just have the capacity to imagine what the future looks like, we need to anticipate it and help create it, because if you don’t create the future, the future will shape us and the future needs to be high wage, high-value, using our smarts, using the capacities and natural advantages that we have in the ground and in the sky but most importantly, using the ingenuity and the capacity of our people. Research at places like Curtin University are very much a part of that and I really thank those people today who are inspirational and they are also, I note, sharing that inspiration and providing it to school students here in the West as well. A great example so that we create generations of science students, of STEM being a priority for both young men and young women but also, of course, the capacity we have for retraining and reskilling as well as our economy changes. WA has an exciting future. I am very optimistic about Australia's future and the role that the West will continue to play in it.

This is my sixth visit to Western Australia as the Prime Minister in just five months. It says a lot about what my priorities are. I look forward to continuing to return over and over again and to work with institutes, to work with business, to help shape WA's future alongside the fantastic local member here in Zaneta and a fantastic Minister in Madeleine King who I will ask now to make some comments.

MADELEINE KING: Thank you very much, Prime Minister, and thanks everyone for being here today. Thank you for being back in Perth again, your sixth time, I know you had a holiday shortly after the election, a well-deserved holiday in the beautiful town of Broome, which is one of the jewels in the crown of Western Australia. Thanks to Zaneta Mascarenhas, the Member for Swan. Zaneta is very well aware of the importance of the resources sector to this state and the nation having worked in it for many years before becoming the Member for Swan, but also the daughter of a nickel miner, from the nickel mine in Kambalda, when the story of nickel in this state was a little bit more precarious than it is today. So thanks, Zaneta, for hosting us here at Curtin, and also to the officials and the Vice-Chancellor Hayne from Curtin University. Thank you so much for having us here. These visits can be disruptive to all your work, but you've been very generous with your time, so thank you so much, and thanks to the researchers who have showed us around. I worked in this sector for over ten years before I was elected. At UWA, but nonetheless, I do want to point out my confidence in the UWA and Curtin University connections. Very stiff competition between these great WA universities, but what is actually a fact is that they are each other's greatest collaborators. And that work that goes on between our two great universities and the others in this State are really important, and I know that work will continue for many years to come.

As for the announcements today, to reiterate what the Prime Minister said, we will be committing $50 million to critical minerals research development hub, which will bring together our great national institutions, Geosciences Australia, CSIRO, and also ANSTO. And together they will work and bring in other projects from researchers right around this country to work on the development of our critical minerals, both the further processing, the further exploration to find even more deposits, because we know this country, our vast natural abundance and wealth is the great gift that we have inherited, firstly through our First Nations people and now as a developed country that will seek to use those minerals for the future, literally of the planet, to ensure we get to net zero emissions by 2050 and have a sustainable future into the very, very long term.

The other announcement is around the Critical Minerals Development Program which is another $50 million which will go to small to medium projects to get them off the ground. Because this is where we see the greatest need for government assistance in making sure these critical mineral projects can actually happen. And then once they have got going, got their supply contracts, got their supply chains up and running, they stand on their own two feet, but these projects are difficult and do need government help. And this is in addition to the six projects we helped across lithium and tungsten and cobalt earlier this year.

The other part of this announcement is also around the further consultation and a refresh of the Critical Minerals Strategy of the Commonwealth of Australia. This is a very important step we are taking. That will include looking at the Critical Minerals List of Australia, which many people have many thoughts on, and I look forward to everyone's contribution on that. The Critical Minerals Strategy to this point has not involved any consultation with industry or anyone else. This government listens to people and we will go out to the community, to industry, to research institutions such as Curtin University, to everyone that is involved in the critical minerals space from its very beginnings in extraction, right to what we want to get to in the further processing of critical minerals, and then down the path of battery development. We'll also seek input from our international partners, who of course are a very important part of our supply chain, both their investment into the critical minerals development of this country, but also the processing part of that.

There is no doubt critical minerals will play an important part of the resources sector and therefore the future of this country for many years to come. The resources sector of Australia will be essential to us and the globe achieving net zero emissions and decarbonising the global economy. Right now, our traditional resources industries are playing their part, that know how, that knowledge and expertise that this country has built over many years will be applied through the critical minerals industry as well. And that will be a very good, very positive future for this country and nothing less than the globe and our net zero emissions ambitions.

With that I will hand back to the Prime Minister.

PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much. Happy to take questions.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, would Labor support the possible censure motion on Lidia Thorpe being proposed by the Opposition and should she have to leave Parliament altogether?

PRIME MINISTER: Oh look, we’ll examine any proposals should they be moved. My understanding is that the Committee of which Senator Thorpe was a member is examining what details went before the Committee, to make sure that there has been no conflict there, that's appropriate that that action take place. And it is appropriate that Mr Bandt respond with a full explanation of exactly the circumstances here. The fact that he apparently wasn't aware of this information from Senator Thorpe, even though it was reported to his office, clearly shows that they need to change their procedures that are in place.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, are you concerned about political instability in the United Kingdom, and are there any economic lessons for you to learn for your Government on how this has unfolded?

PRIME MINISTER: Well first, I would say to Liz Truss and to her family, on a personal level, I wish them well. I met with Liz Truss and shared a platform with her as Foreign Minister, myself as Prime Minister, at the NATO summit in Madrid. And then I met with Liz Truss in Kent, two days before the Queen's funeral recently, and I met members of her family as well. And this will be a very difficult time. We need to remember that these are real people we're talking about. And it would be very disappointing how her Prime Ministership has ended so soon. So on a personal level, I wish her well. I'm concerned about any delay that would occur to the Australia-UK Free Trade Agreement. I had discussed with Prime Minister Truss the fast-tracking of that. We discussed trying to get it concluded before the end of this year, to make sure that the appropriate parliamentary processes went through our respective parliaments. And I will of course speak to whoever it is that will become the next Prime Minister of the United Kingdom about doing that. I must say, I've been in office for five months, I've met with two British Prime Ministers so far, and I obviously will have contact with a third at some time when those issues are concluded. Here in Australia, my Government is stable, is orderly, the adults are in charge. And I look forward to the handing down of our first budget by the Treasurer next Tuesday.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, are there any lessons to learn from the British experience in terms of the risk of spooking the markets with increased borrowing to pay for tax cuts?

PRIME MINISTER: I think there are lessons about making policy that is somewhat surprising. It's not appropriate for me to go into and comment on the internal policy making processes of another government, another friendly government. I think people will have a look at what's happened there and draw their own conclusions frankly. But I wish Prime Minister, former Prime Minister Truss, well in her future. Here in Australia, what my Government is doing is having an orderly economic policy, social policy and environmental policy. Here today, the announcements are consistent with the policy that we took to the election, with a very clear mandate that we have to fix the mess that we inherited. The mess that we inherited was a trillion dollars of debt, is not having an economic plan. A skills crisis, a crisis that means we inherited almost a million people waiting in the backlog for visas. A crisis with people being unable available to get the staff that they need. When I met with businesses this morning at a breakfast, that was a common theme yet again here in Western Australia, in particular. My Government has a clear plan and program. We're implementing it and you'll see more of that, not just next week, next Tuesday, but you'll see other measures as well as we go into next year.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, just on the Medibank hack, you’ve said that you’re actually a Medibank customer yourself. Given that these hackers are threatening to release private health data of prominent Australians and politicians, are you personally concerned about this?

PRIME MINISTER: I'm not terribly concerned about anything that I do being made public, given the nature of the media in Australia, frankly. So I'm not concerned about myself personally. I'm concerned about the impact of what is a serious criminal act, and Minister O’Neil is being very transparent. We have the best and the brightest of our security agencies and our law enforcement agencies taking action to minimise the disruption and impact of this criminal activity.

JOURNALIST: The Opposition says the Government has been too slow in responding.

PRIME MINISTER: Oh, seriously? Well, this Opposition, really, having spent year after year acting like an Opposition sitting in the Government benches. They really need to get beyond the simple script that they have for everything, which is pretending that they have no responsibility here. This is a criminal activity and for them to play politics with this when Minister O’Neil has responded publicly, transparently and quickly along with the agencies that are involved. If the Opposition want to argue that our security and law agencies are too slow, then let them do that.

JOURNALIST: We’ve seen your Treasurer release new inflation figures which don’t look good. Does this give you cause to reconsider cost of living relief measures for people feeling it in their back pockets?

PRIME MINISTER: Well we understand that people are under cost of living pressures due to a range of issues, including the Russian invasion of Ukraine has fed into higher fuel prices and energy prices, that has fed into inflation. We've also seen the impact of the floods will have an impact on the cost of groceries of fruit and vegetables and products. And today as well, I do want to say that my heart goes out to those communities who are facing flood events. I visited this week, I've been in Victoria, New South Wales and Tasmania, talking to flood affected communities. And I remain in contact with the respective governments of New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania about those issues. With regard to inflation, what we know is that in terms of monetary policy, we've seen the most consistent tightening of monetary policy by central banks around the world in many decades. What you need to do is to have fiscal policy, that is the budget, that works with monetary policy. Otherwise, if they’re working against each other, you end up with sending the wrong message to central banks about what action you’re taking. We will have targeted cost of living support in areas that don’t feed into inflation, and that’s why yesterday’s announcement about the National Broadband Network upgrade of $2.4 billion that we made in Albany yesterday. That's why cheaper childcare, cheaper medicines are aimed at providing that cost of living relief. That's what our cheaper child care policy will do for families as well. All of the measures that we're aimed at are aimed at boosting productivity, boosting the economy, so providing support for people whilst not adding any inflationary pressure, that's what you can expect to see in next Tuesday's budget.

JOURNALIST: Any scope for specific measures regarding fruit and veg that’s going to go up apparently 8% in the coming months?

PRIME MINISTER: Look, this is having an impact on people, we understand that. But we also understand that we have inherited a trillion dollars of debt. And I have seen some proposals about cash handouts for people, and the Government simply isn't in a position to engage in measures which would be counterproductive in terms of the impact on the economy. So we will provide cost of living support wherever we can, but we'll do it in a responsible way.

JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, you’re about to take part in the Telethon here in Western Australia, it’s a big part of the community here, do you know what you’re in for and what you can expect?

PRIME MINISTER: I do. I was very pleased to meet a couple of the young advocates, young Ari and Emily, I think, was the young girl's name. They’re inspirational, and I'm very much looking forward to the Telethon. It is a uniting event for the people of Western Australia, where business and families and individuals give what they can to provide support to young people and to families in need. And they're inspirational these young advocates. I've been encouraged, I think I did a deal with Ari to wear the pyjamas for the Telethon. So we'll wait and see what happens over the next couple of days. But I'm looking forward to it. I'll attend the reception tonight that's being held for Telethon. I'll attend the ball tomorrow night, and then I'll be making calls myself over the weekend as well to provide support. But this is a great event, and I just congratulate all those who are involved with it. I was with Kerry Stokes and Richard Goyder this morning, talking about the support for the Telethon which is there. And just a huge shout out to all West Australians. This is an event in which all West Australians should be proud. So I’d encourage people to dig deep over the weekend.

JOURNALIST: Just on Japan, you’re welcoming the Prime Minister tomorrow. Why do you see this as an important meeting at this time?

PRIME MINISTER: Look, this is a critical event and it's bilateral, a formal bilateral meeting with Japan. We'll have some important announcements to make about upgrades to our defence arrangements between Australia and Japan. Japan is an important trading partner for Australia and particularly important for Western Australia. There are so many jobs created because of the close relationship that we have with Japan. I wanted to ensure, as Prime Minister, just like with six visits to WA as Prime Minister, I also want to bring national events here to Western Australia, and having a bilateral meeting here rather than Sydney or Melbourne or Canberra, it's a reminder to our friends in Japan and around the world who will be watching this event tomorrow that Australia is a big continent and that all of Australia matters. And that's why having the event here will be important. I'll be hosting with Premier McGowan a lunch for the business community, with Prime Minister Kishida. I've had a number of meetings with Prime Minister Kishida, we've met in Tokyo on a couple of occasions, but we also had a forum together in Madrid, so this will be our fourth meeting since I became Prime Minister. This is an important relationship. Tomorrow's event will be a good one for Western Australia.

Thanks very much.



ENDS