SHANNON “PINKY” NEVEN, HOST: Senator and Assistant Minister for a Future Made in Australia, Tim Ayres is in Gladstone this morning and joins us. How are you going? 

SENATOR TIM AYRES, ASSITANT MINISTER FOR A FUTURE MADE IN AUSTRALIA AND TRADE: I'm really good, really excited to be here in Gladstone. It's the beating heart of Queensland resources and Queensland manufacturing. It's a very good place to be here with sixty representatives of local industry to talk about Future Made in Australia and making sure that they are engaged with the opportunities that Future Made in Australia presents to them. 

ANTHONY STEFANOS, HOST: What are the opportunities that Future Made in Australia will present to them, Tim? 

SENATOR AYRES: This is the biggest pro-manufacturing package in our history. It's designed to make sure that Australia captures the benefit of all the developments that are going on in the international economy. The world is undergoing the biggest industrial transformation in its history. The risks are, if we get it wrong, Australia gets left behind. But if we adopt the Future Made in Australia approach, that means our industries have got the incentives to deliver good local jobs. And those jobs are not in the big cities, and the CBD is the big cities, they are in the big industrial centres like Gladstone or the Hunter Valley areas with the resources and energy capability and background. This is very exciting work, working not just with the big end of town, the big operators, big industry, but with the supply chain, with the small and medium enterprises, the engineering firms that employ the apprentices that employ the tradies that do the hard work in this sector. 

PINKY: Now, Tim, you will definitely be hitting your 10,000 steps today as you're getting around the place. You're also visiting some childcare centers to talk about that childcare pay rise that was announced yesterday. 

SENATOR AYRES: This is the Albanese Government delivering for childcare. 15% for childcare workers. That is $150 over the next two years, $100 before Christmas, $50 next year. But also, childcare costs have gone down by 11% because of our cheaper childcare policy. There is a cap for the future of 4.4% to make sure that costs are held down while wages go up. That's good for childcare workers, good for dragging more workers into the industry, good for parents, good for productivity and participation in the economy, and most of all, it's good for little kids. High quality early childhood education, delivering for our little kids. This is really good Labor policy and I'm just delighted to be out there supporting it and backing in with childcare workers who are just, don't they do a wonderful job? Those childcare workers. 

ANTHONY: Absolute legends. 

PINKY: Yes. You can't pay them enough, actually. 

SENATOR AYRES: Every single community, you know, every single community, they're there delivering for little kids. 

ANTHONY: That's all great and that, you know, but enough of the funny business. Let's get to the serious questions, because our dear Pinky, I'm not sure if you're aware - she's down in Brisbane this morning broadcasting remotely because she's entered her world-famous lemon butter in the Ekka. So, speaking of a Future Made in Australia, how much funding have yourself in the Albanese Government set aside for lemon butter manufacturing in Australia? We want to bring it back, Tim. 

SENATOR AYRES: Well, not enough, clearly, is the answer not enough? I'd love to get on some time and share my CWA recipe for scones. Lemon butter goes great with those scones. Passionfruit butter, even better. I don't want to upset you, Pinky, but... 

ANTHONY: No, she's made a great passion fruit butter as well. 

PINKY: I've done that too. I just didn't enter in the shows and get awards for that. That's a next year goal, Tim. 

SENATOR AYRES: Well, we're here to call on the Ekka to bring passionfruit butter, passionfruit curd back to the competition, it deserves its own slot. 

PINKY: Put it in the limelight. 

ANTHONY: Can we get you down to a figure? How much can you commit? A billion? 

PINKY: What percentage? 5%. What's the increase? 

SENATOR AYRES: I reckon performance on delivery. Let's see how Pinky's lemon butter goes in the show and then there we'll come back to it. But I'm sure you're going to go really well. That's another reason to come back to Gladstone, to have a go at this lemon butter. 

PINKY: Yeah. I like how he handballed it back to me. Put all the ownership and pressure back on the manufacturer, but okay, I'll take you for it. I'll do it. 

SENATOR AYRES: I'm looking forward to it. That's terrific. 

ANTHONY: Senator and Assistant Minister for a Future Made in Australia, Tim Ayres. You're down in Gladstone today. How long are you going to be down there? And you're hosting a forum. Where can people find you? Just quickly. 

SENATOR AYRES: I'll be at the council there. Sixty local engineering businesses coming to talk with me about the opportunities in Future Made in Australia. Really, it's the biggest pro-manufacturing package in our history. But what it's going to require to deliver it, is Australians working together; government, the state governments, the businesses, the big businesses and the small businesses, the universities and the research centers, the trade unions workers, everybody together in the national interest. That's what this is about. We are delivering the policy, but we expect everybody to work together. There's going to be tough conversations all the way along, week after week, month after month, year after year, delivering a Future Made in Australia. 

ANTHONY: Senator Tim Ayres, thank you for coming on the show this morning. 

SENATOR AYRES: Hey, terrific to be on the show. Catch you soon. 

ENDS.