NIKOLAI BEILHARZ, HOST: The Prime Minister has been in Whyalla this morning announcing more details of this $2.4 billion package to try and help the steelworks continue after the state government put it into administration yesterday. And the Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, joins us now. Prime Minister, good afternoon to you.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Good afternoon. Good to be with you.
BEILHARZ: Have you been backed into a corner to announce this support package in the sense that the state government has come to you and said, ‘look, we're going to put them into administration and if you don't come to the table, that could shut down the steelworks for good’?
PRIME MINISTER: Not at all. Premier Malinauskas is committed to having steelworks here in South Australia and so am I. We had at the centrepiece of our Budget last year, a Future Made in Australia. We can't be a country that digs things up, exports them, waits for value to be added and then imports it back. We need to create value adding. We need to support blue collar jobs. And there's nowhere that's more important for our national sovereignty than steelmaking. There are only two facilities, of course, in Australia at Whyalla and at Port Kembla. And the facility at Whyalla, of course, produces 75 per cent of Australia's structural steel. So this makes absolute sense for us to partner with South Australia to support those jobs and to support the great community of Whyalla.
BEILHARZ: Let's move on to how the money will be spent. For creditors who have been working for GFG to keep that plant going and have not been paid for the work that they have done. Will they be paid back all of what they're owed as part of your package?
PRIME MINISTER: Now we'll work those issues through with the administrators who've been appointed. The package essentially has three components to it. One is stabilising the steelworks, which is $384 million. That's for the steelworks to continue to operate, to pay its workers during administration - and that is essential. It will also ensure that contractors will have ongoing work and will continue to be paid. Secondly, we will work through immediate on the ground support for those people who are creditors because we know that that's an issue. We have partnered up with $50 million for that. There are many small businesses who are owed money, we want to make sure that they are looked after. And the third is a component about how do we invest in the future to make sure that the steelworks there has a sustainable long term future.
BEILHARZ: But for those small businesses that are owed money for work that has been done, is your message to them, ‘We'll get to it, you just have to give us a while’.
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the legislation was passed yesterday in the Parliament, and today I've been on the ground in Whyalla. What we're saying very clearly is that we have given thought to that. We've allocated some funds and those issues will be worked through.
BEILHARZ: Are you confident that those people that are owed money will get what they're owed?
PRIME MINISTER: I'm confident that we will continue to provide support for the community and that if it wasn't for this intervention, the uncertainty that was there would continue. What we have done is provide that certainty, that support for that community there at Whyalla. And I must say that it was very well received today. They have been on edge for a long period of time and it was time that it be sorted out. The intervention by the state government yesterday by passing this legislation is the sort of leadership that was called for and Peter Malinauskas has shown it.
BEILHARZ: When it comes to certainty, from today will any workers at the steel working plant lose their jobs?
PRIME MINISTER: No. And what we're about is not just people keeping their jobs, but we're also about the potential that's there to grow. I mean, this is an extraordinary facility. It's actually quite unique. It's close, very close to the mine and where some of the world's best quality - if not the world's best quality - magnetite exists. You have port infrastructure, you have the space to have substantially increased renewable energy as well. So you have everything come together. Together with, of course, the skilled workforce. I met one fellow today who'd worked there for 56 years. This experience is valuable and what we need to do is to value our greatest asset. It is of course our people and the workforce there have worked for a long period of time, they have those skills. We need these skills because we need to produce steel here in Australia. This is essential for our railway lines, for our buildings, for our infrastructure, for our defence industry. This is so important.
BEILHARZ: A number of members of the Greens, including Robert Simms from here in South Australia, have said that if you're going to put money into Whyalla, then you should earn the right to have a stake in the operation on behalf of Australian taxpayers. Basically saying, look, it'll get you a seat at the table to stop it from happening again. Is that a fair argument?
PRIME MINISTER: The Greens will always try to find some area of differentiation. What we've done here is intervene. Unlike the last time there was an issue of an administrator put in, the federal government put in not a single dollar. It wasn't interested under the formal government in 2016-17. Just like the former government told the car industry to leave Australia. What we've done here is to make sure that we have a role. We have a role, of course, by intervening to have the funding for the steelworks operations during administration, that will make a difference. And then of course the administrators will look towards securing new ownership that will secure the industry's future in the long term. I met a woman today who showed us around, was a fourth generation steel worker. I want there to be a fifth and a sixth generation.
BEILHARZ: Does that though stop this from happening again in five or seven years like we've seen happen previously?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah, if you get it right. Absolutely it does. And we want to make sure that it's got right. And that's what this intervention is about, securing the long term future of the steelworks. That is so important.
BEILHARZ: Well, what's different though? In terms of if you're saying this is not going to happen again, how do you ensure that?
PRIME MINISTER: By getting the administration right, by getting the right owners, by making sure that we have that security going forward.
BEILHARZ: If no buyers put their hand up after a long time, will the Federal Government look at taking on ownership of the steelworks?
PRIME MINISTER: I'm confident that this is an asset that will attract interest, to say the least. This is a remarkable asset. I went through, where it's located, the particular comparative advantages that are there - there's nowhere in the world you'd rather have a steelworks than right there in in Whyalla. And that's why I'm very confident as well with the investment that we'll allocate with the new owner in upgrades as well and new infrastructure to transition the steelworks to that sustainable long term future you will get that.
BEILHARZ: From here will there be a requirement for the use of steel coming from Whyalla to be included in big government projects - infrastructure, roads, railways, bridges?
PRIME MINISTER: We certainly - as part of government policy - we have a procurement policy that wants to see buy Australian. We think that is a core part of what government should do across the board. Now that's been difficult because that hasn't been a policy of the former government but it's something that we have, we've established A Future Made in Australia office and looking at procurement, looking at those issues because we want to make sure that Australian industries are supported and Australian jobs are supported.
BEILHARZ: And a large portion of this support package that has been announced is for the future and is for upgrades to the plant. How long does this package secure the future for Whyalla? How long is Whyalla safe?
PRIME MINISTER: Forever is my view that we want to secure its long term future. We've looked at, there are a range of options that we have including a new electric arc furnace, casting and rolling mill upgrades, gas supply infrastructure, direct reduced iron plant. All of these issues we’ll work through between the administrators and any new long term investor, a new owner. Because one of the things that was lacking was that investment in the upgrades of the plant. We need to make sure that world's best practice occurs there and in the longer term as well. We think that Australia very much has a green iron future and that Whyalla is ideally positioned to benefit from that.
BEILHARZ: Okay, and just finally if this should set Whyalla up forever, does that mean no more support coming from a government in the future?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, what we want is for the new owners to be successful. We're setting it up for success and not setting it up to fail, and that's why we've had this substantial intervention. The Malinauskas Government believes in a Future Made in Australia, as my government does. And we're working together on areas like defence industry, like the steelworks here in Whyalla. We don't want regional communities to be left behind. We do want a Future Made in Australia and we want to make sure that we learn the lessons of the pandemic which is that we can't just be at the end of supply chains. We've got to be a country that is more resilient. And to think of the counterfactual, the idea that we would lose the facility that produces 75 per cent of our structural steel is just beyond my imagination. We need to make sure that Whyalla has a future. And with today's announcement along with yesterday's actions by the state government, we're confident that will occur.
BEILHARZ: Prime Minister, thank you for your time here on 891.
PRIME MINISTER: Thanks very much.