ANDREW CLENNELL, HOST: Joining me now from the South Coast of New South Wales is the Industry and Science Minister, Tim Ayres. Tim Ayres, thanks for your time. I might start by asking about the ‑‑

SENATOR TIM AYRES, MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY AND INNOVATION AND MINISTER FOR SCIENCE: It's good to be on the show, Andrew.

CLENNELL: ‑‑ about the floods event that has occurred in New South Wales. Can you tell me what help the Federal Government is giving here?

AYRES: Well, there have been announcements about activating payments and support. From my own part, I've been, of course, receiving reports about supply chain interruptions on the Mid North Coast in particular, and it is having an impact. Besides road infrastructure being cut off, of course, there are impacts there in terms of the dairy sector and the poultry industry as well. So this is a very widespread event. Of course, right now there are still Emergency Services staff and RFS staff engaged in rescue activity. People have lost their lives in this event, but we are making sure as a government in conjunction with the New South Wales Government, that as each one of these events unfolds, the Emergency Management Minister and the team there at NEMA are making sure that we learn the lessons of every single one of these events and continue to improve State and Commonwealth responsiveness.

CLENNELL: And one issue that's come up here is the fact people are under‑insured in some cases because they simply couldn't afford insurance. Is there anything the government can do to help get insurance costs down?

AYRES: I, in between 2019 and 2022, worked on the bushfire response inquiry, I chaired that inquiry that the Senate ran over that period, and insurance challenges in coastal parts of Australia that were affected by fire are absolutely crucial issue for the insurance sector. Flood events, this last flood event, the previous one before that was many billions of dollars' worth of cost to the insurance industry. I guess from our perspective, we want to keep working with the insurance sector to make sure that there's a high quality reasonably priced product that's available for people in these areas. I want to make sure that insurance companies are paying out and directing their attention to claims very quickly. I saw the Head of the Insurance Council out there saying they'd already received 1,600 claims and expected to receive many more. So this is an area of policy that is really going to matter for Australia as we have these intensifying climate‑related events, we know that there are going to be more of them, that is going to require a more effective and thoughtful response from the insurance sector.

CLENNELL: So just on that, do you believe this once‑in‑a‑500‑year rain event was caused by climate change?

AYRES: Well, I certainly, I remember this is ‑ once‑in‑a‑500 figure is a pretty confronting figure for a flood event on the Mid North Coast. I mean I remember growing up as a kid in the beef cattle industry on the North Coast – you knew that the Slim Dusty song, Rain Tumbles Down in July, was about the 1956 floods, and what an enormous event that was. This set of flooding events, it's not right to attribute each event to a specific cause. What we do know though is that we are likely to see intensifying climate‑related events in terms of fires or floods, particularly in our coastal regions. That's what the science says. I think it's a mistake to attribute every single event, but we know there's going to be more of them, and they're going to be more intense.

CLENNELL: I've just reported the Government's expected to come up with its 2035 climate change target by September, and that it could be more like 65 per cent in terms of an emissions reduction goal than 75 per cent. Would that be better news for industry for it to be a bit less ambitious, this target?

AYRES: Well, my answer to these questions after the election is exactly the same as the Government's answers were prior to the election, Andrew. We're waiting to receive advice from the Climate Change Authority that are consulting very broadly, and when the Government receives that advice, we'll engage the Cabinet processes to deliver the best outcome for Australia. That's the calculation we'll be focused on, what is in the best interests of Australia and the Australian economy, and what delivers the best result for us to make sure that we deal with the challenges of climate change by also capturing the benefits onshore here in Australia in terms of industrial development. That will be the calculation that we work through when we receive that advice. I heard your introduction, you were right to say that it's speculation, because it is just that at this stage.

CLENNELL: What confidence can we have about Australia's energy system going forward? We've seen your side of politics say saying no to nuclear energy, but we know coal‑fired powers on the way out. Right now, do you accept we can't do it all with renewables?

AYRES: Well, that's not the Government's policy, Andrew, the Government's policy is to deliver low‑cost reliable renewables backed up by gas, backed up by storage and backed up by hydro. That is what all of the credible experts, economic engineering say, have said consistently is the right outcome for Australia. You know, given our vast reserves of land space, our vast solar and wind reserves, that is the smart approach to delivering the lowest cost secure and reliable electricity for households but also for industry, to make sure that we become a destination for investment in industrial capability based upon our competitive advantages. That's what the Future Made in Australia agenda, the largest pro‑manufacturing package in Australian history, that is what that is directed towards, to making sure that we're seeing investment in new industry, in new factories in our outer suburbs and our industrial regions.

CLENNELL: You replaced Ed Husic as Industry Minister in controversial circumstances. I guess you're a long‑term ally of Anthony Albanese. What have you made of Ed Husic leaving the Cabinet and his response to that?

AYRES: Well, as you'd know, Andrew, I'm a long‑term participant in the Labor movement and the Labor Caucus, and delighted—you know, thrilled— with the opportunity to serve as the Industry and Innovation Minister and as the Science Minister. There is an enormous opportunity here to coordinate, to implement, to deliver on Labor's ambitions here in terms of future industry and good jobs in the regions and outer suburbs. I've never been a commentator on the internal politics of the Labor Caucus or the Labor movement, and I won't start doing that on your show. It's suffice to say I'm absolutely delighted to have been appointed to play this role. I want to bring all of my experience in industrial policy to bear to support what is going to be a crucial phase of industrial development in Australia.

CLENNELL: Ed Husic, just to put it bluntly, made out that the world was going to end if he wasn't Industry Minister anymore. Do you think you can manage to pick up that mantle in an okay fashion to replace him?

AYRES: Look, I'm focused on what it is that I can achieve here to support the work of the Albanese Government. Firstly, in making sure that we deliver world‑class industry policy, building on the foundations that Ed said. You know, Ed and his team worked very hard through the first term, 2022 to 2025 to put in place the institutions and the policies that we'll deliver. It's my job to make sure that we coordinate across those policy institutions, and the National Reconstruction Fund, Future Made in Australia, work with my colleagues to focus all of our effort on delivering good jobs, good industrial jobs, new factories, new industrial capability in our outer suburbs, in the bush and in our industrial regions.

CLENNELL: Well, just on that, just on that ‑‑

AYRES: Secondly, of course ‑ sure.

CLENNELL: Just on that, sorry, the $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund, during the election campaign the Opposition said not a single dollar had yet been spent on manufacturing from it. When can we see some money out the door with that?

AYRES: We've seen significant announcements over the last few months. I'm very focused, of course, on making sure that we deliver here, like each job is to make sure that Australian research and development ‑ we lead the world in research and development and applied science ‑ that it is commercialised here in Australia. The fund has made announcements about a series of decisions. I expect to be out there working with the fund on our future pipeline of decisions, that has taken, of course it has taken time to develop that capability. The Liberals opposed the fund being established at all. They wanted to let the market rip, and these investments continue to be, the IP to be developed in Australia but then commercialised offshore. It's a bit hard to accept they're complaining about the fund; they didn't want it to exist. It's sort of the arsonist complaining about fire brigade turning up too late, it's not a serious proposition. I'm just focused on making sure we continue to deliver this work, that we intensify our work.

CLENNELL: All right.

AYRES: Because that will deliver good industrial jobs in Sydney's western suburbs, in Melbourne's outer suburbs, in The Hunter, the Illawarra, Central Queensland ‑‑

CLENNELL: Almost out of time, Tim Ayres.

AYRES: ‑‑ making sure that we reindustrialise those regions.

CLENNELL: All right. Almost out of time. Just briefly, Mr Husic approved this controversial grant for a quantum computer, $190 million it's being put at. Have you had a briefing on how that project is progressing and whether taxpayers are receiving value for money?

AYRES: Yeah, of course I have, and we'll continue to work those issues. This is a vital investment in Australia's national interest. Quantum computing, I have to say artificial intelligence more broadly, are a vital part of us making sure that we are enabling more productive industry. It's one of the key technologies, one of the key levers that we have as a government and as a country to lift Australian productivity. That's why I'm delighted to be, you know, have responsibility for stewardship of our approach on artificial intelligence and quantum computing. It's vital in national security terms as well. This is an investment that is absolutely in the Australian national interest, and we will continue to work on that, in partnership, of course, with the Queensland Government and with PsiQuantum itself. The technology frontiers for Australia, particularly in emerging, in technologies like artificial intelligence that are going to do so much to lift our productivity right through from investments in data centres through to making sure that we diffuse that technology through small businesses and industrial firms, this is one of the key enablers for lifting Australian productivity, and that's one of the contributions that I am very focused on delivering in this portfolio.

CLENNELL: Tim Ayres, thanks very much for your time.

AYRES: Thanks Andrew.

ENDS