SUBJECTS: Visit to Kurri Kurri; Labor’s announcement for the Kurri Kurri gas plant; net zero by 2050; importance of green hydrogen; climate change; Labor’s Powering Australia Plan; Labor’s Buy Australia plan; Future Made in Australia; Morrison-Joyce Government’s failures during the COVID-19 pandemic; aged care workers; Federal election; Labor’s policy agenda.
 
MERYL SWANSON, MEMBER FOR PATERSON: Well, good morning, everyone. And welcome to Kurri Kurri. We're here on the land of the Awabakal and Wonnarua People. And I pay my respects. And I welcome you wholeheartedly to Kurri, the town so good they named it twice. This is just brilliant. It's been a long time since we have had a cavalcade of leaders and decision makers of this calibre in Kurri. I am absolutely delighted to welcome my colleagues, Chris Bowen, Pat Conroy, of course, Dan Repacholi, who is standing for the Hunter, Sharon Claydon from Newcastle, and the Leader of the Australian Labor Party, and who I sincerely hope will be Australia's next Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese. We're here today to make a really important announcement for this town. But not only this town, this region. The Hunter region has been the powerhouse, the engine room, of not only the Australian economy and the New South Wales economy, but the Hunter economy. And the announcement that we are making here today will not only back in that, but it will see this town, this region, this state, and our country thrive into the future. We are going to be creating jobs. But not only jobs, we're creating energy security so that we can make things here in Kurri Kurri, in Maitland, in Raymond Terrace, in the Hunter, in New South Wales and Australia again. The last two years have shown us all what's important in our country. It's your health. It's your job. And it's looking after each other. A vote for Anthony Albanese, a vote for Labor and, quite frankly, a vote for me, Meryl Swanson, will ensure that we've got good jobs and you have a better life here in Australia. Everyone, thanks for being here. And I want to hand over now to Anthony Albanese, Leader of the Labor Party and Australia's next Prime Minister. Thank you all.
 
ANTHONY ALBANESE, LEADER OF THE AUSTRALIAN LABOR PARTY: Well, thanks very much, Meryl. And it's fantastic to be back here in the Hunter, in your electorate. My second visit to the Hunter so far this year. And I have a consistent record, a track record, of delivering, of course, as a Minister for the people of the Hunter, including the Hunter Expressway here. And I want to be a Prime Minister who also delivers for the Hunter. And I was very proud to launch Meryl's campaign for Paterson last night. Because Meryl Swanson is a champion for this region. She stands up for jobs. She stands up for the local economy. And she stands up for ensuring that this region has a great future. And that's what today's announcement is about. When the Government made their flawed announcement, we said, along with the energy security experts like Kerry Schott, the Government's hand-picked energy security tsar, said that there was a problem. It was flawed because what it didn't do was ensure security of jobs and security of energy supply into the future.
 
What today's announcement does is just that. It takes a flawed approach and make it work by ensuring that the Kurri Kurri plant can stay open, run by gas, but with 30 per cent green hydrogen from the beginning, but working up to being powered by green hydrogen in the future. We'll work with Snowy to make sure that that occurs. This is a practical plan. It's one that ensures that we don't have a stranded asset with workers losing their jobs down the track. The future that I see for the Hunter is a future that is bright. It's one that takes advantage of the infrastructure which is here, with one of the best ports in the world. With infrastructure, including the rail line, that I supported, of course, as Infrastructure Minister when we brought the duplication of the rail line to improve efficiency and productivity. It is one that has a bright future if we get it right.
 
And getting it right means looking towards where future growth will be. And what we know is that the green hydrogen sector has an enormous potential in this country. But how do you drive it? You drive it by having solar and other renewables and clean processes driving the production of hydrogen, feeding into the Kurri Kurri plant. Now, what that contrasts with is a Government that spent year after year after year saying that Liddell was going to stay open. Josh Frydenberg as the Energy Minister used to, every Question Time, stand up and talk about Liddell. The truth is that Liddell was at the end of its life span. So, we need to do something that ensures there is energy security, but which also ensures it's done in a way that's consistent with moving towards net zero by 2050, but also a way that drives economic growth and drives jobs. I see the Hunter as potentially a green hydrogen powerhouse for Australia and the world. Not just producing it here, but exporting it internationally. We need to take advantage of the opportunities. The problem with this Government is it’s scared of the present but terrified of the future. They never plan for the future. And that's what we contrast today's announcement with. And that's why we've spent the time to get it right. And I want to pay tribute to Meryl Swanson, who has continued to be a strong advocate for investment. Today's announcement will lead potentially to even more investment here in Kurri Kurri and here in the Hunter. And it's a good one.
 
I want to also just make some comments about Scott Morrison's aged care announcements before I hand over to Chris Bowen. Because I think people will wake up this morning and say that Scott Morrison has presided over an aged care system where the Federal Government is the funder, the regulator, of aged care in this country, and where we have 20,000 active cases for residents or workers in the aged care sector, at a time when Scott Morrison says the solution to that is one-off payments, cash payments, in the lead-up to an election. Scott Morrison is trying to buy the support of aged care workers. What aged care workers want him to do is to buy rapid antigen tests and PPE for them. Scott Morrison knows that the aged care sector is in a crisis. He doesn't have to listen to us. Mike Baird, the former Liberal Premier of New South Wales, has called for the Defence Force to be brought in to make beds. We know that aged care residents are sitting in bed without being able to be showered, in some cases without being fed, and with open sores that aren't being tended to as a result of a crisis that could have been foreseen, and indeed, was, by the Prime Minister and the Health Minister, who were talking about rapid antigen tests being available as far back as August last year. But other countries were placing orders for rapid antigen tests in December of 2020 and early 2021. This Government made its first order in January, just weeks ago, of rapid antigen tests. What's more, they've failed to back Australian manufacturers who want to produce more rapid antigen tests right here. A future made in Australia, making things here for Australia's resilience. We cannot remain a country that's at the end of the supply chain. We need to make more things here. And that's why part of my big commitment, which is consistent with today's announcement here, is I want a future made in Australia and I want us to buy Australian, to support Australian jobs and Australian industry and Australian resilience. This Government talks about overseas interference. Well, it leaves us totally vulnerable. And older Australians today are very vulnerable. Older Australians and those people who are healthcare workers in the aged care sector. Aged care workers want, are desperate, to have the products to look after their residents. Scott Morrison's just desperate to get their votes. And a cash payment that does nothing to lift the wages of aged care workers beyond the next Federal Election campaign is an appalling response from a Government that never has its hands on the steering wheel, just, as always, the bumper sticker and the ad at the back of the car. What we need is a Government that actually leads. Today's announcement is doing that. And when it comes to the aged care sector, we'll lead as well. I'll call upon Chris Bowen to make some comments.
 
CHRIS BOWEN, SHADOW MINISTER FOR CLIMATE CHANGE AND ENERGY: Thanks, Albo. Well, we're here today, expressing a big vote of confidence in Kurri Kurri and the Hunter Valley. The Hunter Valley, which has powered Australia for so long, for so many generations, will power Australia into the future under an Albanese Labor Government. What we're doing today is ensuring that Kurri Kurri is at the centre of the hydrogen revolution which is about to take place right around the world. We want to see Kurri Kurri leading Australia's involvement in that revolution. Green hydrogen is a way that we can generate and store renewable energy. And we can power Australia from the regions like the Hunter Valley. Now, we've always said the Government's proposal, as Albo indicated, didn't stack up economically and didn't stack up environmentally. But our proposal stacks up environmentally. It's consistent with our commitment to net zero by 2050. And it stacks up economically because it's an investment which will last. The Government's investment, as so many experts have pointed out, will not be sustainable. And therefore those workers will not have secure jobs. Under an Albanese Labor Government, these jobs will be secure because we'll be leading the global green hydrogen revolution. So, we want to see this plant up and running on the same timetable as the Government. But we want to see it converting to green hydrogen. And we will be working with Snowy Hydro to ensure 30 per cent and then 50 per cent and then 100 per cent. In keeping with the best practice. So, if the people of Australia vote for an Albanese Labor Government, there'll be a green hydrogen plant here in the Hunter Valley. If the people of South Australia vote for Peter Malinauskas on March 19, there will be a green hydrogen plant in South Australia, complementing each other. Only Labor has the plan to ensure that Australia is part of and is leading that hydrogen revolution. The Government called hydrogen snake oil at the last election when they were running around with a dishonest campaign. They're missing the boat. It'll take an Albanese Prime Ministership to ensure that Australia, and importantly, the Hunter Valley is at the front of that revolution. The world's climate emergency is regional Australia's jobs opportunity. And nowhere is that more the case than here in the Hunter Valley. I want to thank Meryl and all the Hunter colleagues for their advocacy of the Hunter Valley. And under an Albanese Labor Government, Kurri Kurri and the Hunter Valley will be at the heart of the hydrogen revolution.
 
ALBANESE: Happy to take questions.
 
JOURNALIST: Mr Albanese, Labor has basically spent the last 12 months bagging this project, saying it is a waste of taxpayers' money. What's behind the sudden change of mind?
 
ALBANESE: What we said was that it was a flawed project. And the Government's proposal is a flawed project. What we need to do is to make it a project that provides sustainable jobs, that provides job security and energy security. And our proposal will do just that. The problem for this Government is it's never able to look beyond the 24-hour news cycle. They've been found out, now they're searching for a second decade in office, whereby people are saying to themselves, 'Is this all they got?' What they want is a Government that's prepared to lead. As Chris Bowen said, when Labor put forward our hydrogen policies at the last election, the Government said it was snake oil. They said that electric vehicles would end the weekend. This is a Government that never looks forward. And the problem with the Government's proposal is that it was considered by none less than Kerry Schott, the Head of the Energy Security Agency, as something that didn't stack up. And the problem is that we shouldn't deliver investment for a stranded asset. That's not a good use of taxpayer funds. The reason why the private sector wouldn't step up is because it didn't stack up economically. What this proposal does is drive support for green hydrogen, is take the investment that's there. And we say we're never going to knock back investment for the Hunter. Investment for the Hunter is a good thing. But it needs to be the right investment. So what we're doing is taking their proposal, transforming it into something that works, that works for the future and provides that security.
 
JOURNALIST: So, how can Hunter voters trust Labor after this backflip?
 
ALBANESE: Because we're doing exactly what we said we would do consistently. Consistently. Their proposal is not good enough. It is not good enough. We stand by all of those comments that we made on the basis of the comments that every energy expert and every economist said that was the case. But we've worked this through with people in the energy sector and with proper analysis. We have an exciting future going forward in terms of green hydrogen. Australia can be a renewable energy superpower for the world. We can be, if we get it right. This is a part of getting it right. And when we announced our Powering the Nation Plan, we announced 604,000 new jobs would be created between now and 2030. And five out of every six would be in the regions. What we've consistently said is that action on climate change is good for jobs and it's particularly good for jobs in our regions. It's good for growth in our regions. That's where the growth is going to be. So if you’ve got a region like the Hunter that has the infrastructure in place, it has an enormous advantage. That's why green hydrogen is being looked at in Port Kembla in the Illawarra, now in the Hunter with this proposal, in Gladstone in Central Queensland and in South Australia, as well as, of course, in Western Australia. It's no accident that you're not going to have a green hydrogen industry delivered in Marrickville in my electorate. Where it's going to be delivered is right here in Kurri Kurri. Creating jobs, good quality jobs, good paying jobs, that provide secure work into the future, and that provide a growth into the future. This is an exciting day. And I think for Meryl and for Dan Repacholi, our fantastic candidate for Hunter, and the other members from the Hunter who are here today, it's a good day. It's consistent with the approach that I have for Hunter, which is imagining a better future and then setting about creating it.
 
JOURNALIST: Where will you source the hydrogen from? And how much will it cost?
 
ALBANESE: One of the things about this site is that some of the hydrogen can be sourced from solar that could be constructed on site. There are range of proposals to do just that. And the site is an appropriate one to be able to feed in to ensure that it is green hydrogen. There is a difference between green and blue hydrogen. We are about the best case. And Labor always does this. I was the Communications Minister at the end of our time in Government. And I well recall a debate that occurred then over something called the National Broadband Network. It was about regional Australia and overcoming the tyranny of distance. And we were rolling out fibre to every home and business. And the Government said, ‘Don't worry about that, we'll just go with old technology, we'll go back to copper’. And they bought enough copper with your money, taxpayer money, to wrap around the world, not once, but twice. And as a result, you have a flawed multimodal system whereby you have some people getting first grade and some people getting third and fourth grade that just doesn't work. And what they've had to do is go back and retrofit. And we've said that we'll add more than a million homes to that if we're elected, because, frankly, you need to use best technology. That's what we're saying here too. Best technology is how we use green hydrogen to drive jobs of the future. To future-proof this asset. The Government said for so long that Liddell would stay open. They said that for year after year after year, rather than plan for what happened post the closure of Liddell. What we're doing here is looking forward, making sure that there's secure jobs created, good, paying jobs, as well as sustainable jobs and something that will drive investment in the region and will enable the Hunter to be a powerhouse of what is one of the world's growth industries.
 
JOURNALIST: Mr Albanese, one of the principles behind the plan as it stands at the moment is to ensure, one, energy security when Liddell closes, and two, put downward pressure on power prices. How will your plans affect household power prices?
 
ALBANESE: It will have no impact. But over a period of time, of course, what we know, just as it used to be the case, remember, that renewables needed a bit of a leg up. Guess what? Now, the cheapest form of clean energy is through renewables. It is something that is happening. And what will occur over a period of time as well is that the costs of producing green hydrogen will fall. They'll fall substantially. And we know from experience that's the case. The question here is – do we commit the mistakes that have occurred, under solar and wind, that have occurred on this Government's watch? In 2013, they were elected saying they would abolish the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, they would abolish ARENA, they would get rid of the Renewable Energy Target and they would get rid of all of the measures that were put in place to give Australia a chance of maximising the opportunities for jobs and economic growth coming from action on climate change. They said all of that. And because of that, all of the solar panels, and we have more solar panels per capita than any country on in the world on our roofs. Why have we done that? Sure, some people have done it to help the environment. But the big driver has been people have put solar panels on their roofs to drive down their energy bills. Because it makes sense. And businesses are doing the same thing. They're moving to renewable, clean energy because it drives down their power bills. It makes sense. In the meantime, we've missed out. All those solar panels on the roofs of businesses and homes are built in China or built overseas with Australian science, innovation and technology. That's the tragedy here. There is Australian innovation in every solar panel in the world but we're not receiving the advantage. We have an opportunity here of first mover advantage in green hydrogen. We have enormous assets. We need to take advantage of it and become a renewable energy superpower for the world.
 
JOURNALIST: The Government's hoping to have this project up and running by the end of next year. If you were to win the election, say in May, how would you deal with the necessary approval process, which at least part of it would have to recommence again?
 
ALBANESE: Well, it would have the same timetable. One of the reasons why the Government has already made a couple of purchases of turbines for this plant. And can I say this? They've been in Government for almost a decade. Had they taken a common sense approach and not gone on with their approach of Liddell will be open forever, which is what they said, and they used to sit in the Parliament and go on and on about it every day. They never talk about that anymore. Josh Frydenberg hasn't used the word ‘Liddell’ for a very long period of time. And Angus Taylor isn't taken seriously by his own side, let alone anyone else. But I might ask Chris to make some comments.
 
BOWEN: The Kurri Kurri plant has already received state planning approval. This would not disturb that. There are still some federal approvals to go through, but I would envisage exactly the same timetable. In addition, the Government’s own documents, Snowy Hydro's own documents say the plant could do 30 per cent hydrogen but they're not planning to. But we'll take up the Government's own documents which say 30 per cent hydrogen immediately is possible and we'll ensure, working positively with Snowy Hydro, that will be the case.
 
JOURNALIST: What is the cost of this?
 
BOWEN: So, we'll allocate up to $700 million in extra equity investment to Snowy Hydro, in keeping with the normal budget treatment. That's an investment to make money for the Commonwealth. I note that, if I can say up-front, old mate Angus has been asking for the business case. I mean, seriously. Well done, fantastic Angus, who in the Budget papers has an asterisk to explain the cost of this project. An asterisk. And he's issued what he calls a business case, which is a 16-page glossy document with no pricing information. We don't take advice from old mate Angus.
 
JOURNALIST: What's the cost of hydrogen per kilo?
 
BOWEN: It depends on how it is made. Whether it's green, blue, grey, gold, pink, turquoise hydrogen and all the different types around the world. There is actually no green hydrogen being produced in Australia in any meaningful sense. The only small plant at the moment is in Horsley Park in my electorate. So this is a tiny industry which is not producing commercial green hydrogen as we speak. But by 2030, the world will be completely embracing green hydrogen. It will be 30 per cent of the world's energy transactions will be hydrogen by that timeframe, from nothing at the moment. So there's no commercial green hydrogen. There's no cost at the moment. But we will ensure that in Australia, green hydrogen is at the forefront of this global revolution.
 
JOURNALIST: A couple of questions for the network. What role do you see gas and coal playing in Australia's future?
 
ALBANESE: It will continue to play the role that it's playing now. And the plan that we put out in terms of powering the nation does not envisage any impact on existing energy structures which are there in terms of all of the power plants which are there, will be on exactly the same timeframe. That's why we put out a fully-costed plan that is in great detail, unlike the Government that just had a pamphlet.
 
JOURNALIST: And when and how would you plan to start paying down the nation's debt?
 
ALBANESE: Well, I do find some irony. This Government has created a trillion dollars of debt. And I'll tell you something they could do for a start to pay down $16 billion. They could take the $16 billion that is in the Budget at the moment of decisions taken but not announced. And they would take that and make sure that isn't spent for political purposes. That's one thing they could do. We also would have $20 billion less debt because we wouldn't have designed JobKeeper in a way that gave money to businesses that were increasing their profits. This is a Government that have used taxpayers' money consistently as if it was Liberal Party money. What we will do is use every taxpayer dollar for good purposes to build the nation, whether it's projects like this or whether it be the Hunter Expressway which we built last time we were in Government.
 
JOURNALIST: Would you align with the Greens to form a Government?
 
ALBANESE: No.
 
JOURNALIST: Craig Kelly has been targeting this area quite intensely. How do you plan to counter that?
 
ALBANESE: Well, Craig Kelly, of course, was hand-picked by Scott Morrison to be the Member for Hughes when he didn't have the support of his own Party locally. What we would do is we'll continue to point out that a vote for Craig Kelly or a vote for One Nation is a vote for Scott Morrison. If you actually want to change the country, if you want a country that up for workers' security, if you want a country that supports same job, same pay for coalminers in this region, if you want a country that delivers better living standards with cheaper child care, that defends Medicare – and can I say, happy birthday, Medicare, today, of course, done by Federal Labor – and what we've seen from this Government is a continuing undermining of Medicare. Craig Kelly has voted for all of that. He's voted for all of that. And if you want to change the government, you should support Meryl Swanson here in Paterson and support Dan Repacholi becoming the Member for Hunter.
 
JOURNALIST: I've got a couple of network questions on aged care.
 
ALBANESE: Sure.
 
JOURNALIST: Is there a specific problem that you have with providing the cash payment to workers? What is the problem?
 
ALBANESE: No problem with paying cash payment to workers. The problem here is this is a cash payment in the lead-up to an election with no sustainable increase in their pay. Why is the Government not providing support for aged care workers on a permanent basis? There's a case before the Fair Work Commission where the Federal Government is refusing to support a submission saying they should have their pay increased. So aged care workers will be onto this bloke. He's not interested in them. He's interested in their votes. And they won't be conned. They know they've been left behind by this Government. This Government's refused to meet with aged care workers so many times who have been talking about the crisis that is there. It's too little, too late. These are one-off payments just in the lead-up to a Federal election. Aged care workers will see through this. They know that they've been neglected by this Government, just as aged care residents have been.
 
JOURNALIST: Does Labor support an increase, then, in the hourly rate?
 
ALBANESE: If I was the prime minister, we would make a submission to the Fair Work Commission supporting an increase in pay for aged care workers. Yes, we would. The other thing that the Royal Commission showed when it came to aged care workers is that you need to do something about the aged care workforce. There are not enough aged care workers there. And you need to deal with that. That's something that's been ignored by this Government. And you could start by having a nurse in a nursing home. Under this Government, there's no guarantee that there'll be a nurse in a nursing home. That makes no sense. You need more nurses. And you need more aged care workers. Because older Australians deserve to live out their later years with respect and dignity. They've built this country. They deserve nothing less.
 
ENDS