KAREN WHEATLAND, LABOR CANDIDATE FOR DURACK: Welcome, everyone, my name is Karen Wheatland, I’m the Federal Labor Candidate for Durack and it’s fantastic to have the Prime Minister and the Minister for Resources, Madeleine King, back in the Pilbara again, and at the heart, the powerhouse heart of the nation, so I’d like to just hand straight over to the Prime Minister.
 
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much. Well, I want to thank Rio Tinto for hosting us once again here today. This is an extraordinary facility and we saw the shiploader in operation today, loading 10,000 tonnes an hour onto ships. There are four ships here at the moment. Three of them are going to China, one of them is going to Vietnam. Producing wealth for Australia. Rio Tinto, its operations here throughout the Pilbara and the Kimberley mean that about a million tonnes a day go out of these four ports that operate in this region. And Rio Tinto contributes some $10 billion of taxes and royalties to the national economy to pay for education, to pay for health, to create jobs. This region is a wealth creator for our country and the resources sector plays such an important role. And of course, the area here where we're in is a major employer.
 
I've been coming here now for three decades and I've seen Karratha as a town grow and thrive, just like Port Hedland. There is of course as well a steady fly in, fly out workforce. And I want to thank Rob, a First Nations man from Kununurra who was working there. Came to work today, expecting a quiet day, ended up doing interviews with the national media, operating the shiploader here for Rio Tinto. Someone who's worked in a mine and is now operating a shiploader, earning good money for him and his family and making a contribution to our national economy. We want a future made in Australia and part of that is support for the resources sector as well, making sure that where possible we can value add and make things with the products here, the resources that we have under the ground, helped of course by the resources we have in the sky as well. And the person who is leading a lot of that work on critical minerals, rare earths, is of course a very proud West Australian, Madeleine King. And I'll turn to her before we take just a couple of questions.
 
MADELEINE KING, MINISTER FOR RESOURCES AND MINISTER FOR NORTHERN AUSTRALIA: Thanks, Prime Minister, and thanks for being here again. A very frequent visitor here to Dampier. Thanks also to Karen and to Rio Tinto. So, here we know iron ore is so vitally important for the economy of Western Australia and therefore the nation. But there are other commodities that are really important too, and they are critical minerals. They are an integral part of a future made in Australia. They are an integral part of what the world needs to reach net zero, but also defence materials. And what we see is Peter Dutton ripping $17 billion out of the critical minerals industry by promising to repeal the production tax credits that the Albanese Labor Government has introduced. Moreover, they are going to destroy the critical minerals fund by making that accessible to gas. Now, we all know gas has a lot of money, it's a very important industry, but it is not subject to the same international strains that critical minerals are.
 
Australians deserve better than Peter Dutton, who is going to totally destroy a critical minerals industry before it's even got off the ground. This is really important for Western Australians, for Western Australian workers. We have seen modelling that shows 143,000 future jobs are at risk if Peter Dutton continues on this vendetta against the critical minerals industry. So, for Western Australian workers, for mining workers that live here in Karratha and Dampier, that travel here on their swings week in, week out. They need to know, and they should know, that Peter Dutton does not take the resources sector seriously. Only Anthony Albanese and a Labor Government will look after your jobs and ensure there are more jobs for your children into the future. I'll hand back over to the Prime Minister.
 
PRIME MINISTER: We're going to just take a couple.
 
JOURNALIST: The Burrup Peninsula is behind us. It's home to some of the most ancient rock art in the world, the highest concentration in the world. It dates back to before the pyramids. And yet there are gas sites around here that are destroying that art. Why is your Government not protecting such a unique site?
 
PRIME MINISTER: We are protecting those sites. And you can have sustainable industry together with protecting the environment and the example of what occurs here on the Burrup Peninsula. I've certainly worked and seen that magnificent art here. And one of the things that industry does here is work with First Nations leaders as well and the traditional owners to make sure that that occurs.
 
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, I feel sacrilegious to ask a Queensland question, but I must. Labor is pumping $130,000 extra into Dickson –
 
PRIME MINISTER: Sorry. What do you mean extra?
 
JOURNALIST: The ad spend. The National President, Paul Erickson, put out an email saying he had approved $130,000 more for the Dickson campaign in a bid to win that seat because the research showed its line ball now, 50-50. But Mr Dutton has dismissed Labor's claims and Mr Erickson’s email effectively as a PR stunt. How confident are you of winning Dickson? And should Peter Dutton be watching his electoral back?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we'll find out on May the 3rd. But Dickson is Queensland's most marginal seat. It is on 1.7 per cent. If Ali France gets the same swing in 2025 that she got in 2022, she will take her place in the House of Representatives. And I think she would be an amazing member of the House of Representatives. This is a courageous person. She's someone of great intellect. She's someone passionate about her local community. And we're taking Dickson seriously. That's why we campaigned there on day one.
 
JOURNALIST: You mentioned earlier today that there was a serious security incident that was now before the courts. Can you provide any more detail on that and what was involved?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I will, I can confirm that there have been, of course, threats, but there also have been incidents, including one particularly serious incident that is now the subject of legal and other processes. It is not in the interests of security to give a whole range of details which then lead to potentially people copying these issues. So I take advice on those issues. I've chosen, I was asked today, so I gave a straight answer to it. But I think that it is in the interest of keeping us all secure, that those matters are dealt with by the police and by the courts where appropriate, and that we continue to do what we can to keep all of us safe, like I want all Australians to be safe.
 
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, how concerned are you about exports, like the industry that we're seeing here today in the new reality after the Trump tariffs? And did you discuss that with Rio Tinto? How do you think the mining and resources sector looks at Labor and your Government at this point?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we have a good relationship with the resources sector for some of the reasons that the Minister just outlined as well, production tax credits, the work that we have done. Since I've been the Prime Minister, I took the entire Cabinet to Port Hedland. That's the first time that's ever happened with a federal Cabinet. I've visited Kununurra, where we've made decisions about ports in Western Australia as well, including in that region where we've opened it up to exports as well, which is a good thing and has been welcomed by the resources sector.
 
The resources sector are important for Australia. And out of the current issues that are coming with trade and tariffs, what's important is that we have restored our relationship with some of our most important trading partners. And the relationship that we have developed in removing the impediments to exports to China has reaped significant benefits, particularly in Western Australia and Queensland.
 
JOURNALIST: Peter Dutton has said that he has huge concerns about the future of AUKUS under a Labor Government. Are we seeing a fraying of the bipartisanship that we've seen about this so far?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Well, that's a question for Peter Dutton, isn't it? That's an irresponsible comment, frankly, for Peter Dutton to make.
 
James, if it's about, to Madeleine –
 
JOURNALIST: No, it's for you PM.
 
PRIME MINISTER: I'm not the Minister here –
 
JOURNALIST: And I’d like to ask you.
 
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the Minister will answer. That's why we have a Cabinet.
 
JOURNALIST: Minister, on critical minerals and strategic materials. What specifically will the Albanese Government do if re-elected to make it easier to get these materials out of the ground, considering projects have had difficulty getting off the ground or have found that they have been cancelled at the last minute? And, PM, can I ask you the same question?
 
KING: Well, for a start, the $17 billion we've committed under the production tax credit system is the single largest investment any Australian government has ever made in the resources sector and that it's targeted at critical minerals. So, that will commence during the next term of government. And, well, if we're elected, because we know Peter Dutton wants to withdraw $17 billion of support – that's exactly the point. That is what drives the creation of this industry, coupled with the Critical Minerals Facility which is already putting government funding and support which brings in that other investment and that is going very well, as well as the parts of the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility which have been, you know, kept for critical minerals projects right across the north. So, we do expect a lot of investment and we'll expect more and more of that to come from our partners that have the know-how and the expertise.
 
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks. If I can just make two comments about that issue that you relate to about announcements that have been made by the Coalition and what's at stake at this election. One is that today, purported to be a new announcement, is funding for Geoscience Australia. That was in last year's budget, last year's Budget that the Coalition, now, more than a year later, they've decided to pretend that it's a new policy announcement at this election. We want to map the whole of Australia, both land and sea, over a period of time. I'm the first Prime Minister to visit Geoscience Australia – made up of, by the way, public servants in Canberra, public servants whose jobs are under threat. Peter Dutton has made that as a drop to the West with his speech to Leadership Matters today. Secondly also, they have said that they'll get rid of the National Reconstruction Fund. Now, one of the things that the National Reconstruction Fund is about is manufacturing, including getting our resources and how value is added. We've made a number of announcements through the NRF and Peter Dutton has said that he'll just get rid of that fund.
 
JOURNALIST: The Minerals Council of Australia has done a press conference with Peter Dutton in Perth as they endorse the Coalition's expansion of Australia's critical minerals list to include uranium. The Shadow Minister, Susan McDonald also said that it should include gas. Are they resources that you will add to the list?
 
PRIME MINISTER: Look, the Minerals Council of Australia have a political view. It's clear to everyone.
 
JOURNALIST: Mr Prime Minister, the ship that you were on, the ship that you were on has giant LNG tanks on it. The gas industry is incredibly important to workers in this town. What certainty can you give those workers around the North West Shelf extension?
 
PRIME MINISTER: We've had a future gas strategy announced. We support the gas industry. It has an important role to play. What I can give them is this certainty that what we won't do is set up a legal case which would delay any prospect of progress for a number of years by making irresponsible comments. Because I understand the law and understand the way that it works. Thanks very much.

ENDS