HOLLY STEARNES, HOST: Anthony Albanese has announced a $2 billion package to help transition aluminium smelters to renewable energy. Joining me live is Assistant Minister for a Future Made in Australia, Tim Ayres. Great to see you as always. Good afternoon to you.

SENATOR TIM AYRES, ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR A FUTURE MADE IN AUSTRALIA AND ASSISTANT MINISTER FOR TRADE: Good afternoon, Holly.

STEARNES: Obviously this has been very well received in the industry, but policy framework and timeline here will be key issues. Can you elaborate on that for us?

SENATOR AYRES: Well, it's a production credit. So, that is a measure that is payment by results effectively. For every tonne of aluminium that is produced, industry will receive a production credit for product that is manufactured here in Australia. This guarantees the future stability of aluminium processing in Australia, which is a critical value add for us. And what's been going on in the industry is that the industry is moving to lower emissions electricity. Electricity is the biggest input into aluminium production. Moving to lower emissions production because that is what their customers and clients around the world are demanding. This supports them through that process and guarantees that aluminium manufacturing has got a bright future in Australia. Tens of thousands of jobs, Holly, rely upon this industry, particularly in regions like the Hunter Valley, Central Queensland, Portland, in Victoria and in Northern Tasmania.

STEARNES: Yeah. And of course, you're saying that it will set us up for global competition in the manufacturing market there. At the end of the day, it's taxpayers funding this. I understand it's an investment, a long-term investment, but does that outweigh any benefit people might get from say your government's renewable energy plan?

SENATOR AYRES: No, this investment backs in all of the other investments that are going on as we modernise our electricity system, as we move it to a low-cost reliable electricity system that supports households and business. That's the aim of the game here. That's why we're moving through this process of rebuilding the electricity sector made a lot of progress but of course there is hard work to go backing in at the same time our manufacturing sector so that they can continue to defend good jobs and production here but also make the new investments in future capacity in areas like critical minerals refining where Australia has enormous opportunity. That's what the Future Made in Australia plan from the Albanese government is all about. And as of course I'm sure you're about to take me to it, Australians are going to face some pretty stark choices about the future of manufacturing here in Australia in what is going to be an election year.

STEARNES: Yeah, absolutely. It's hard to ignore that this is coming a big promise ahead of an election. Why has it taken for that to happen, for this promise to come to fruition.

SENATOR AYRES: Well, all of this takes work. Ed Husic, Minister for Industry and Science, and his team and his department have been working carefully through the details of this scheme. Just as the government has been working through the broader Future Made in Australia package, so the work has been done, it's able to be announced the details of this scheme that gives industry the confidence to invest and to continue to invest in good jobs. The broader Future Made in Australia package, which is the biggest pro-manufacturing package in Australian history, we backed in by this government. We'll actually do the detailed work rather than just do what our opponents do, which is big announcements, and deliver confidence for industry to invest in good jobs and apprenticeships in the regions. The alternative is Peter Dutton and the Liberals who say they will tear all of this down, all of these good jobs disappearing offshore. Peter Dutton's risky, poorly thought through nuclear scheme, which is actually premised on its core assumption, is that industries like aluminium go offshore to China and the Middle East and the United States. A profoundly pessimistic attitude from Peter Dutton, which lets regional communities and manufacturing down. His nuclear plan, which puts costs up for households $1200 a year, puts costs up for business, but also forces out electricity intensive manufacturing and says to investors from around the world, the world's greatest manufacturers, Peter Dutton's message to them is don't bother knocking.

STEARNES: I'm pretty sure Peter Dutton said this morning that aluminium production would still be a focus of his government, though. Are you concerned about Peter Dutton closing? You go.

SENATOR AYRES: Sorry, Holly, I'm sorry to interrupt. I really hate having bad manners on programmes. I didn't mean to interrupt.

STEARNES: I'll forgive you.

SENATOR AYRES: It's not what he says, Holly, because he, he bloviates all of the time about these questions. He says he's for this and for that, but his plan, in black and white, his nuclear reactor plan says electricity intensive manufacturing is going to go offshore. So, the heart of his strategy, his economic strategy, is a smaller economy, less electricity, less manufacturing. And the message for aluminium in particular is which is our most electricity intensive manufacturer? It pushes them offshore. The alternative is our plan building a modern electricity system, working with industry the way that we have all through this term to secure investment in local manufacturing.

STEARNES: Are you concerned though about Peter Dutton closing the gap on marginal seats like Patterson, which includes the Tomago smelter?

SENATOR AYRES: I'm concerned about Peter Dutton closing aluminium smelters like Tomago. That's what I'm concerned about. You know, these guys are repeat offenders on manufacturing. They talk big, but they are the people who closed the car industry. They talk big, but it's the NSW Liberals and Nationals who put rail manufacturing here in the Hunter and sent it offshore. Cost thousands and thousands of jobs in this region. Hundreds and hundreds of school leavers didn't get a chance at an apprenticeship because our Liberal and National government deliberately offshored manufacturing. They talk about blue collar jobs, but all of their policy direction, they've got no answers. And we are a government, the Albanese government with the Future Made in Australia programme, which is, as I said, the biggest pro-manufacturing package in Australian history. Our sights firmly on the future. Working hard with industry every day to secure these current investments, to make sure that current manufacturing stays here, but also to secure the big jobs of the future. Good quality jobs in our outer suburbs and in our regions, in communities like the Hunter where these jobs really, really matter.

STEARNES: Okay, Tim Ayres. we'll leave things there for today. Thank you as always for your time.

SENATOR AYRES: Good on you, Holly. Good to see you.

ENDS.