DARREN CHESTER: This is a very exciting day for business in the Latrobe Valley region and I’m very pleased to welcome Angus Taylor here as part of this announcement. The HESC Project demonstrates the enormous future the Latrobe Valley has in terms of energy generation. We have a rich and a proud history here in the Latrobe Valley of powering our state's energy needs. This HESC project is part of the future, so it's fantastic to see the Federal Government, in partnership with the state government, in partnership with the Japanese Government, and industry groups to do this project which has enormous potential for future job opportunities here in the Latrobe Valley. So I am excited to be here as the local member. I'm very proud of the fact that our region contributes enormous amount to the wealth of Victoria. And we're also going to have a great future in terms of energy production here in the Latrobe Valley. Thanks, Angus.

ANGUS TAYLOR: Well, thanks, Darren. It's great to be here with you. And of course, we have global ambitions in building a hydrogen industry here in Australia. This is a world leading project. It's a project that will for the first time transport hydrogen across the seas from Australia up to Japan and build a supply chain, just as we've built supply chains in the past with Japan in agriculture and resources. The iron ore industry was the first back in the 1960s, and we're doing it right here in the Latrobe Valley. This has obviously been a tough week for the Latrobe Valley, but this is great news we're seeing here today about the future for the Latrobe Valley in building a hydrogen industry and building a great hydrogen opportunity. It's all part of the Government's focus in bringing down emissions by focusing on technology, and creating jobs and opportunity at the same time as we bring down emissions. That's exactly what this project is doing. A $50 million investment from the Federal Government, with $450 million invested from others alongside our investment. This is the model for how we're going to build these industries, a model for how we bring down emissions, and a model for how we'll create jobs and opportunity at exactly the same time. Very happy to take questions.

JOURNALIST: Is it still appropriate to burn coal with projects like this?

ANGUS TAYLOR: What matters is that we're building industries where we can reduce emissions, and that's exactly what this project will do. We'll see through CarbonNet, the opportunity to sequester the carbon created by projects like this one, including this indeed. That's important because it allows us to produce low emissions or zero emissions energy. That's what we want to do in Australia and that's what we want to export to the world. Japan wants it and Japan needs low emissions energy sources to produce steel, to produce energy for their households, and for their small businesses. We want to do exactly the same here in Australia. Low emissions energy, bring down our emissions, ensure we have the affordable reliable energy we need as a country for our industry, our small businesses, and our households.

JOURNALIST: So why should this technology, why should the resource be exported? When can Australians start driving hydrogen cars? Why is a separate country getting the benefits first?

ANGUS TAYLOR: We'll do both. That's exactly what we want to do. We've built industries in Australia, both for export and domestic use at the same time. Built up those industries time and time again. And it's the way we can bring this industry to competitiveness, to make sure that we can produce hydrogen at a cost which is competitive with the higher emitting alternatives. That's how we're going to bring down emissions. Now, we're going to do it both in Australia and we'll support our customers, our energy customers across Asia and the world. And we can do those two things simultaneously, and at the same time create jobs and opportunities for places like here in the Latrobe Valley.

JOURNALIST: Are projects like this going to be able to fill the closure of power stations in terms of jobs in the Latrobe Valley?

ANGUS TAYLOR: Yeah, we absolutely want to create jobs in the Latrobe Valley through this project. We know the hydrogen industry has the potential to create $11 billion for the economy, and 8000 jobs over the coming years. That's work that was done as part of our National Hydrogen Strategy through Dr Alan Finkel. We know there's an enormous opportunity to create jobs. We want to do it right here in the Latrobe Valley as well as elsewhere around Australia.

JOURNALIST: Realistically, when do you expect the Japanese to make a commercial decision on this hydrogen supply chain project?

ANGUS TAYLOR: We'll have the first cargo going up to Japan this year. It's been a commercial decision to invest in this important project. Scaling it, we want to have that happen as quickly as possible. We want the scale in this industry because that'll bring down the cost, that'll ensure that we have access to hydrogen here in Australia to produce low emissions energy, but also will support bringing down emissions in Japan and across Asia. Look, the truth of bringing down emissions is it is a global problem requiring a global solution, and Australia can play a lead role by developing technologies like what we're seeing here today right here in Australia, Australian engineers, Australian workers, and Australian technologies.

JOURNALIST: What does it mean for Australia that this is operated by Japanese companies, not others countries?

ANGUS TAYLOR: Australians are involved at every level of this project, and they should be. But it's a partnership and partnerships is how we build industries like iron ore over time. Like wool. The wool industry, one of the biggest customers over time has been the Japanese. We've built these industries together. We will keep building these industries together. That's good for Australia, good for Australian consumers because they'll have access to low emissions fuel through hydrogen, but also good for our customer countries, good for jobs, and good for investment.

JOURNALIST: So energy companies are saying they want to get out of coal. Is this project just a stopgap until we can produce hydrogen from non-fossil fuel sources?

ANGUS TAYLOR: Well, there is going to be a balance in our energy system for many, many years to come across a range of different resources. Energy systems require balance. There's lots of intermittency coming into our energy system - that's solar and wind - and that's great when the sun's shining and the wind's blowing, but we have to have balancing energy sources that ensure when the wind isn't blowing in and the sun is shining, we still have the energy we need at an affordable price and in a reliable way. That requires balance. Hydrogen over time could provide an important part of that balance. So it is important fuel as we go into the future, and it's why we're making very significant investments with projects exactly like this one.

JOURNALIST: The EPA just finished a review in the region on the big coal fired power stations and it was criticised for not limiting the amount of greenhouse gases they can emit. So how is this a step in the right direction?

ANGUS TAYLOR: Well, we're seeing a big step in the right direction for industries across Australia. Look, Australia is absolutely leading the world in investment, in particularly solar technologies. We have the highest rate of household solar in the world - one-in-four houses. We've seen over $9 billion invested per year in the last two years in renewables here in Australia. And our challenge is to make sure we balance that with dispatchable, reliable, complementary sources of energy that can keep the lights on at all times. That's exactly what we're doing by investing in technologies like hydrogen. It is exactly the sort of outcome we'll get projects like what we're seeing here today.

JOURNALIST: And can we just get a comment on the Yallourn Power Station workers? I've spoken to a lot of them this week that are feeling very uncertain about where to next?

DARREN CHESTER: Obviously, it was bad news for our Yallourn families. For the workers themselves, for their families, the contractors. As a local member, I'm going to make sure that they are probably supported through this transition process. We've got time to plan now, we’ve got time to reskill people. We've got until 2028 to get this right. The worst thing that happened with the Hazelwood closure was it was so precipitous. We didn't have that time. With Yallourn we have that time now. We are proud of the fact that our region has generated a lot of wealth for the rest of Victoria. I'll be expecting the Victorian Government, the Federal Government to work with me as a local member on projects, initiatives to secure jobs for the future of this region, and to make damn sure we're well supported as a region.

ENDS