EVAN WALLACE, HOST: Tim Ayres is Australia's Assistant Minister for Manufacturing. Tim Ayres, good afternoon.

TIM AYRES, ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR A FUTURE MADE IN AUSTRALIA AND ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR TRADE: G'day. Really good to be on the show and talk to your listeners.

HOST: Now, given that Bell Bay aluminium is already run mostly from renewables, will it be eligible to receive your promised aluminium production credits?

AYRES: The short answer is yes. This is a $2 billion announcement to secure the future of every Australian aluminium facility, including Bell Bay. So, the short answer is yes. The slightly longer answer is, well, Bell Bay is in the national electricity market. Bell Bay confronts its own challenges in terms of its own decarbonisation process. The real choice in front of the Australian Government and the Australian aluminium sector is not a choice about decarbonisation. All of these companies are going through this process in order to meet the market, to sell the products to the global market that the global market wants to buy. Zero emissions or close to zero emissions aluminium. The real choice is whether that happens in Tasmania, happens in Australia, or whether it happens overseas. And what the Albanese Government is doing here is acting to ensure the future viability and competitiveness of of the Australian aluminium sector, and that is delivering thousands of good jobs around the country, including right here in Tasmania.

HOST: There are definitely a lot of dynamics at play. But just zooming back on Bell Bay, does that mean it's only going to be partially eligible for those credits given that there is such a large chunk of its operations that are run from renewable energy?

AYRES: Well, as I say, Bell Bay purchases electricity from the national electricity market, so none of those things can be taken for granted, firstly. Secondly, it is engaged more broadly in efforts in terms of making its own production processes more efficient and less energy and carbon intensive. And thirdly, the short answer is they are absolutely engaged fully and this $2 billion program is absolutely designed for every Australian aluminium facility.

HOST: I'm still not sure how that works though here in Tasmania with renewable energy. So, just trying to put it all together, that the funding is to try to get aluminium production using more renewables, in fact, being completely renewable, which is a goal that makes a lot of sense in the context of those global energy dynamics that you're talking about. How exactly does Bell Bay aluminium access this funding and these credits?

AYRES: Well, the purpose of the credits is to support Australian aluminium production. And I just say to you, I know this assertion has been made, including earlier on the ABC on your morning program, by one of the Liberal candidates who's got a political interest in trying to diminish what is going on here, this program is there to support Australian aluminium production. Now the question is, are those decarbonisation efforts and is aluminium production going to occur here in Australia or just be left to go offshore? This program ensures that it will happen here in Tasmania and here in Australia, and that's what is going on here. Now, I understand one of the Liberal candidates for Lyon, I understand who's got a double role supposedly with some responsibility for manufacturing in the Bell Bay industrial precinct. Two Hats has put the political argument, the partisan argument, before the interests of Tasmanian workers and Tasmanian industry.

HOST: One of the lines that have dominated in this political debate is that it's been called by Opposition Leader Peter Dutton a con job, a $2 billion con job. He said that there's no smelter in the world that can run off only wind, solar, batteries. What's your response to the Opposition Leader?

AYRES: Well, I listen to Rio Tinto, I listen to Alcoa, I listen to the experts and the engineers who are engaged in this. Where these companies are right now in the market for 100% renewables and storage, know that their future lies. If they're going to have a competitive future and they're going to have a market, they know they have to meet the market. They are fully engaged in decarbonisation efforts and securing zero or close to zero emissions aluminium. While Mr. Dutton and Liberal candidates are out there diminishing their efforts.

HOST: You say that you want to rebuild manufacturing in Australia. Let's just look a little bit big picture here. What do you think it would take to get another aluminium smelter operational in Australia? Is it even possible?

AYRES: Well, it's certainly the case that in Australia we have all of the ingredients under the ground, whether it's aluminium or more broadly, in the metal sector, in critical minerals, that the world is demanding. We've got enormous solar and wind resources here in Australia, including in Tasmania. What is required is a government that is determined to put its shoulder behind the wheel and back Australian manufacturing. Now, the Future Made in Australia package is all about securing investment in the next wave of industrial production. A lot of that is in metals refining, including in aluminium refining. The bottom line here is the first step is backing current local production. That's what this $2 billion package does. The broader $22.7 billion Future Made in Australia package, which is the biggest pro manufacturing package in Australian history, is about securing future investment in regional manufacturing, particularly, particularly critical minerals refining.

HOST: Do you think it is possible, though, to get another smelter operational?

AYRES: We're all about building Australia's future, all about ambition for Australia, pragmatic ambition, focused ambition. If Mr. Dutton and others want to talk Australia's future down, which is what their nuclear reactor plan does, by the way, the Dutton nuclear reactor plan forecasts a low growth, low demand, low manufacturing future for Australia. It's predicated on forcing aluminium and other electricity intensive manufacturing offshore because they've got no ambition for the country. I think Australians who live in regional Australia want to see more from government and that's why Anthony Albanese and the Labor team have stepped up with a strong Future Made in Australia package which is all about backing the future of Australian manufacturing.

HOST: And just finally an election has to be held by May. You and your colleagues have been spending a lot of time in Tasmania over the past few weeks. Are you just trying to save the furniture?

AYRES: Well, we've been spending a lot of time in Tasmania over the last three years. The Prime Minister has been down and back not just as Prime Minister but also as Leader of the Opposition and all through his career as a minister and parliamentary representative. This is a Prime Minister who's understood the infrastructure requirements, the economic requirements in Tasmania. He absolutely gets the requirement for economic development and good jobs, particularly blue collar jobs in the north in Tasmania. He's demonstrated that he's acting in the national interest. He is a Prime Minister who's already made a big difference for Tasmania and we all know with a second term this is work that has got to be continuous as we build Australia's future. We've done a lot, we've got a lot more to do and want to keep doing it together with Tasmanians.

HOST: Sounds as though those lines are definitely being sharpened. Tim Ayres, thank you so much for your time this afternoon on ABC Northern Tasmania.

AYRES: Really enjoyed being on the show.

ENDS.