TOM CONNELL: Well, the political row over the government's plans for a critical minerals production and tax credit on that will resume next week when the legislation with the scheme is introduced into Parliament. The Coalition vowing to vote against the tax incentive, claiming it would give out billions for billionaires. My colleague Ash Gillon has spoken with the Resources Minister today. Ash, can we expect any changes to the scheme? Of course, the hope for Labor is they can get something passed at the end of this Parliament.

ASHLEIGH GILLON: They'd like to, Tom. It sounds like there has been some tinkering, but the main thrust of this is still a 10 per cent tax credit for the onshore downstream processing of critical minerals. When I spoke with the Minister Madeleine King, a bit earlier, she confirmed that despite the current price woes being experienced by that lithium sector, the government has no plans to bring forward the scheme. Have a look.

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: At the moment, 2027 is the start date, Ash, and that gives us time to make sure the structure around a production tax incentive works as it's intended to. It also is the pathway for the incentive to work properly. What we know about lithium is a commodity that is subject to a lot of international shocks and that's what we've seen. The opaque nature of the international market means it does come under a lot of pressure, but it is a very new industry in this country, and that's why the production tax incentives are so important because it does incentivise that investment that we will need in the face of those international market pressures.

ASHLEIGH GILLON: There had been some debate over whether the tax credit should be available to foreign entities. As you know, one of the major lithium processing plants in WA's Kwinana is half-owned by the Chinese. Are you comfortable giving millions of dollars in tax relief to a Chinese company like Tianqi?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Well, our focus is on making sure that those products are refined here in Australia in a future made in Australia. So, to have lithium spodumene ore refined into lithium hydroxide in Kwinana and in Kemerton in South West and Western Australia, is really important. What we know is those products will be refined by Australians; Australian workers working on the refineries that Australian workers have built. So, that is our focus. There has been international investment into lithium hydroxide plants and we absolutely need that international investment because - as we always have done for our whole resources industry, and the same will be for lithium.

ASHLEIGH GILLON: And just to confirm, when we see this legislation next week, will there still be no cap on the size of tax credits claimed each year and will the scheme still be limited to that 10 years per downstream processing plant?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Yeah, at the moment that is the plan. There won't be caps on it. But you know, we've got to acknowledge that this is a growing industry. It's very new. So, in the initial uptake, we anticipate it will be lower, and it will grow. And that's what we want to happen. You know, an incentive is about making things grow and get bigger because we do want to build things here in Australia. And that's why I find it completely baffling that the Coalition are opposing it because this is about real support that the resources industry has called for for critical minerals and rare earths. And indeed it's the kind of support that our friends in America and the EU support as well. So, there'll be a really important boost, a $17 billion boost for the resources sector and the critical mineral in particular. And you know, this is an industry-led policy. We've worked with industry to develop it, and the Coalition should get on board and support it because if they're not, they're just not backing Queensland, they're not backing WA, and they're not backing critical minerals.

ASHLEIGH GILLON: Okay, but no significant changes that you can flag in that legislation now?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Well, I won't be flagging it. I'll wait until it's tabled next week. Of course, that was within the Treasurer's remit, being a taxation piece of legislation. So, I'll leave it to the details when we release it next week.

ASHLEIGH GILLON: Ok, it was worth a try. The tax credits have echoed incentives available under Biden's Inflation Reduction Act. What is your expectation as to how Donald Trump will handle that and the impact that that will have on Australia's sector?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Well, of course, any change of government of administration anywhere around the world does spark some reviews and changes, and that's entirely understandable and especially in democracies which, you know, we respect and of we also respect us being, you know, one of the strongest democracies in the world here in Australia. So, I know we, in fact the US focus on critical minerals started under the former Trump administration. So, I expect the next Trump administration to reflect the work they did earlier when they were in government in the US but also building on the work of the Biden administration because what we know is in the US they are very focused on those secure supply chains of critical minerals and rare earths, as is Australia, because we will need these ingredients for green technologies to get to net zero. But really importantly, rare earths in particular go into a lot of defence applications. So, making sure we have these products is really important to defence technologies for us in Australia, but for our friends and partners in the US and around the world.

ASHLEIGH GILLON: The WA Premier, Roger Cook, described a Trump victory as going down a dark road. He warned it would cost jobs in WA's resources sector because of Trump's pledge to impose tariffs up to 60 per cent on Chinese imports into the US. Do you share that view?

MINISTER MADELEINE KING: Well, the view I share with the Premier Roger Cook is that no one wins a trade war. We know that Australia's been - has borne the brunt of trade disruption with China, that, you know, Senator Don Farrell, one of the, if not the best Trade Minister this nation has ever had, has fixed that through his patient negotiations with China. So, we know what it's like. An industry in Australia, particularly agricultural industry, knows exactly what it's like to bear the brunt of a trade dispute. So, I think Roger is just simply reflecting that frustration that when tariffs are introduced, they can be counterproductive to international trade. Having said that, in critical minerals, we know there is trade disruption right around the world because we have that opaque market. So, we need to be thoughtful about what we can do to make sure our industry survives the downturns in prices and the market manipulation that comes from elsewhere.