Ashleigh Gillon: Well, pharmaceutical companies will be given new incentives to develop and test drugs and therapeutic technologies to help treat rare cancers and other illnesses. Joining us live now is Angus Taylor, the Industry Minister. He joins us live from Dandenong South. Appreciate your time, Minister. You've announced today automatic tax breaks for companies to run clinical trials. Clinical trials can be an expensive process, as we know now. You're essentially contributing taxpayer dollars towards them. So what are you hoping to actually achieve?

Angus Taylor: Well, one of the priorities of the modern manufacturing strategy Ash, is to make sure that we're strengthening our medical technology manufacturing sector in Australia. Those technologies and the manufacturing that supports it absolutely essential for Australians and great opportunities for Australia around the world. And by having this tax break on the clinical trial, we strengthen that sector. And that sector has an enormous amount to offer for Australia. We've always been strong in this area, and this is another piece of the puzzle to strengthen that sector, create jobs. We're seeing very strong jobs growth in Australia at the moment, 4.2% unemployment. We've just seen 220,000 trade apprentices now in manufacturing in Australia, which is absolutely fantastic and we want to see more of that in these sorts of initiatives are what we need to make sure those jobs in manufacturing and right across the economy continue to strengthen.

Ashleigh Gillon: We have a pretty risk averse venture capital sector in Australia, which often sees our researchers and scientists coming up with fabulous concepts, but then having to take them overseas, usually to the US, to get investment to commercialise them. Is there a part of this program that's going to keep successful projects in Australia?

Angus Taylor: Well, it will help to do that. There's no doubt about that. I mean, I was at a site today, Melbourne company, CSIRO Research. They're commercialising and we want to see more commercialisation of Australian research here in Australia, converting to Australian manufacturing, in that case, a 3D printing with metal for things like satellite shields. So, incredible Australian innovation, which we're commercialising right here in Australia. We do need to see that continuing strengthening of a venture capital sector, the access to finance but government has a role to play. The $1.5 billion modern manufacturing strategy is all about helping those companies build to scale, create jobs, get their manufacturing up and running in this country. It is a real priority for the government. We're seeing real success and we're seeing the jobs figures today are an indication of how we are getting good jobs success in the country, but we want to see more of it.

Ashleigh Gillon: Small researchers here in Australia is it trying to attract big companies from overseas? And when I spoke with a leader in the RND space this morning, he was saying with tax breaks are great, that's the first step. But he made the point that not all jurisdictions have the right infrastructure and skills to support those sorts of trials. Pointed out, we lack a unified streamlined ethics process surrounding those trials in this country. Are there plans for improvements to support what you're doing?

Angus Taylor: Yeah, well, look, there is a lot more. I mean, the clinical trials are an important part of the puzzle, but we're creating a Payton Box system in this country which provides additional tax breaks for maintaining intellectual property in Australia. We're obviously doing an enormous amount on the training side and skill side. My ministerial colleagues involved in that have been very strongly focused, as the Prime Minister has, on that area and, of course, the Entrepreneurs program, which we've announced only in the last 24 hours, another $12 million for the Entrepreneurs Program, number of medical technologies in that bone implants. We have a business focused on that, another one on diagnosing diseases, including breast cancer, for instance, where Australia has a real world-leading position. We are playing an active role in this, but ultimately, it's businesses that have to make these things work but there is a role for government, and so there's a range of things that need to be done. Something like clinical trials is one part of that puzzle.

Ashleigh Gillon: We've heard claims from companies this week that their orders of rapid antigen tests are being taken by the Federal Government. As we've been reporting today, the Health Minister, your colleague, Greg Hunt, has denied this. He said they're lying but to be fair, it's not just companies making these claims. Today we had the same claim from the Deputy Premier of Queensland, who said the Federal Government has intercepted rapid antigen test. Is industry expressing those concerns to you, and what are you trying to do about it in terms of keeping industry going in the face of these omicron outbreaks that are taking so many workers of action.

Angus Taylor: Well, we've obviously placed an unpredictable time in recent months. I don't need to tell you that, Ash. I mean, it has been an extraordinary time for all Australians, and supply chains at various points have been under pressure. I've seen that in my own portfolio, for instance, with AdBlue, where we've ramped up Australian manufacturing through insert of AdBlue to deal with an issue which we didn't have enough AdBlue. It would ultimately mean there'd be great challenges in keeping trucks on the road, but we've been dealing with that. We've been dealing with that successfully, and local Australian manufacturers have been helping out with that but it is something we need to stay on. Rapid antigen tests you talked about as well, global challenge. There is no question about that and I know my colleague Greg Hunt and Josh Frydenberg have been working very closely on making sure we do everything we can to continue that supply coming into the market as fast as we possibly can. These challenges are the ones we're focused on. I spent much a greater deal of time over the Christmas and New Year period making sure we've got the AdBlue we need, Ash and this is something as a government we know we have to be on and we have to deal with as quickly as we possibly can.

Ashleigh Gillon: We are standing by to hear from the Prime Minister in the next few minutes after today's National Cabinet meeting yesterday, he stopped short of apologising for the lack of rapid antigen tests currently available. As you know, many Australians and industry leaders as well are still furious that they can't access these products. They're just not readily available yet as they are in most other developed countries. How would you categorise your Government's handling of this latest omicron outbreak?

Angus Taylor: Well, it's been a challenge. The Prime Minister said that there's no doubt about it and we would like to see more supply coming into the market as quickly as possible but anyone who can predict what's around the corner next with the pandemic is doing well because no one has been able to date Ash and we deal with the circumstances we face them and we're dealing with them in areas like AdBlue in a very effective way. We've seen that that's obviously in my portfolio and it is one of those supply chain issues no one could easily predict but it is one that we've been dealing with. We've dealt with it as quickly as we possibly can and over the Christmas and New Year period we've seen enormous alleviation of the challenge and I'm sure we'll see the same things with rapid energy.

Ashleigh Gillon: We all hope so Minister Angus Taylor.  I appreciate you joining us. Thanks so much.

Angus Taylor: Good on you. Thanks, Ash.