: Thank you so much everyone for being here today. I look around and see so many people who have worked tirelessly for months and months for this day to get here. Do you know what? Uncertainty is a terrible thing. For 18 months, the 550 workers here at Bell Bay Aluminium have faced that uncertainty. They’ve been putting decisions about their future on hold, whether to buy a house, get another dog, or maybe even to start a family. They then had to go through watching Liberty go through the toughest of times. Their family members, their friends, just down the road, all while dealing with this uncertainty over their heads. Uncertainty leads to restless nights and worried days. That is why we are so, so deeply grateful to be here, deeply grateful to the Prime Minister who has given me very much time over the last few months listening to me talk about this, to the leadership and the very hands-on engagement that Minister Ayres has had, particularly in the last week to get this across the line. Here today we stand with workers and we collectively take a side from it. Once again, we have certainty. We have certainty for the future. Prime Minister, Tasmania, absolutely thanks you for this.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Well, thanks so much Jess and thank you for being such an extraordinary advocate for your local community. The local community expressed its faith in you last May and ever since then, what you have done is just consistently advocate for local workers, for local jobs and for this beautiful part of Tasmania and Australia playing a role in the nation’s future, and that’s what today is about. And that’s why I have so many of my colleagues here – Senators Tammy Tyrrell and Helen Polley, Anne Urquhart here, of course, the Minister, Tim Ayres, and also Jeremy Rockliff and members of his team. I want to say this to Jeremy Rockliff as well, publicly, what I say to him privately. We work together. There’s no party lines here. This is people, Commonwealth and state government, working in the interests of Tasmanians and working in the interests of our nation. And I thank you, Jeremy, for the spirit in which you engage consistently, not just in this area, but in education, in health, in other areas as well. This is a fantastic day because what it does is provide that certainty going forward. We’ve had the opportunity to meet the workers here. I know Tim Ayres, my Minister, has been here on a number of occasions putting together this package. One of the things that we saw when we were on the shop floor was new capital investment that’s been made by Rio as well. Upgrading the facility hasn’t been left, you know, and as one of the people said to me, it looks a bit old on the outside, but on the inside, constantly having innovation to make sure that there’s efficiency, to make sure that the products produced here have a market and are specialised. And so to Rio Tinto as well, thank you for what you do, investing in jobs and investing in a future made here in Australia. I want to lead a country that makes things here. The theme of our Budget was reform and resilience. We need to ensure that in today’s uncertain world, we be less dependent upon imports and that we’re able to ensure that we manufacture things for domestic purposes, but also that we manufacture for export as well. And here in Australia, where we have everything that will power the globe in the 21st century under the ground or indeed how it gets manufactured in the sky with the best solar resources in the world, these are all absolutely vital for our nation. And Tasmania, I think is playing an increasingly important role. And Marinus is about to begin as well, exporting renewable energy to the north island, making an enormous difference as we go forward. So, this is a great day. I’m so pleased to be able to meet with workers this morning. Workers who have come either from Queensland, we met people from South America, people who come here to make their future for themselves. But in doing the work that they’re doing, they’re also helping to make that future here in Australia. I’ll hand to the Premier.
JEREMY ROCKLIFF, PREMIER OF TASMANIA: Well, thank you very much, Prime Minister. And can I acknowledge all our team at both federal and state level and I’ll coming to that in just a moment. First, I want to acknowledge all the workers at Bell Bay Aluminium and indeed all the people, the small businesses, the people that are employed in those small businesses for their patience over the course of the last 12 months or so. This has been an uncertain time and I empathise and understand the anxiety that that uncertainty creates today provides certainty. A five year guarantee and further discussions on a future for Bell Bay Aluminium beyond that five years. And I want to thank local management as well. In my peripheral vision I can see Lee and Lou, Richard, somewhere, who are so passionate about their community here and indeed the workforce. And that passion comes through in spades. And we’re never left with any uncertainty as to how people feel in this local community, people that work at Bell Bay Aluminium feel about their workforce and the importance of this facility to northern Tasmania and indeed the entirety of Tasmania. We always said this would create, this is needed to get this deal done a three way partnership and cooperation between the state government, the Federal Government and of course Rio. And I want to acknowledge Ulric here as well. We’ve been working with, over the course of the last little while, in terms of getting this agreement finalised. I want to pick up on some of the PM’s comments around the importance of cooperation. And when I speak to the PM by phone, face to face, wherever it might be, this is two governments working together, irrespective of political colours, for the benefit of the people of Australia, indeed in this case the people of Tasmania. The level of cooperation that we’ve had from the Prime Minister and Minister Ayres has been extraordinary and indeed local member, Jess, as well. But also these agreements aren’t easy, they require tough negotiations. And as you’d understand it, we obviously want to secure the workforce but have the best possible arrangements for the Tasmanian people. And I want to commend our local member and Minister Nick Duigan, our Minister Felix Ellis, who have been working with me and others, to the outcome that we have today. The outcome we have today is the security of over 500 jobs at Bell Bay Aluminium, but also the thousand jobs that are relied on this facility as well, spread right across Northern Tasmania. This is vital for our Tasmanian economy, which is why we’ve all worked so hard together. What this means is effectively $5 billion of economic injection into Tasmania, particularly Northern Tasmania over the course of the next five years. And if someone came to me and said can we invest $0 to $100 million over the next five years to secure a $5 billion economic value and indeed a billion dollars of investment from Rio into TasPorts, Tas networks, Hydro and payroll tax, I’d say you beauty. This is a good deal for Tasmania. A great deal of course for the workforce to secure their future. But it’s all about the people, and I see many faces in this room and met many young people looking at and explaining brand new investment and brand new equipment just a short while ago. That’s what it’s all about. It’s about governments and companies working together to secure the future of Tasmania, this region, and to ensure that we can continue the diversification of our northern and Tasmanian economy. I’m biased, but Tasmania is the best place to live, to work, to invest and raise a family. And the two young people I spoke to about 20 minutes ago from Queensland, a wonderful state. They’ve actually chosen Tasmania to be here, to live, to work and to raise a family. I couldn’t be prouder of that fact. There are many people involved in today’s announcement. I see Susie and Luke from BBA and Zed as well, who have been very strong advocates. Thank you, and many others. It’s a great deal, a great day for Northern Tasmania, a fantastic agreement and I want to thank everyone involved. And I’ll now hand to Minister Ayres.
RICHARD CURTIS, RIO TINTO BELL BAY GENERAL MANAGER: Thank you, Premier. So, it is my great pleasure to welcome the Prime Minister, Premier, Minister Ayres, Ministers Ellis and Duigan to Bell Bay today for what is a great day for not just the people of this smelter, but also for the Tasmanian community, the business partners and Northern Tasmania in particular. For 71 years, Bell Bay has been part of Tasmania’s story – that’s huge. It has cemented a place in history as not only the first aluminium smelter in the country, but also in the Southern Hemisphere. Throughout this time, we’ve continued to innovate, to grow and improve this business and create thousands of jobs here and support countless businesses, created economic opportunities and supported communities right across Northern Tasmania and beyond. We’re very proud of that contribution. It’s an important role that we continue to play both in Tasmania and in Australia’s manufacturing history, because we actually have to make stuff. We are very pleased to have a pathway for the ongoing years ahead that will take us through to the end of 2031. And I want to sincerely thank the Australian Government, the Tasmanian Government and Hydro Tasmania for their continued constructive engagement in helping to achieve this outcome. I also want to acknowledge our employees and our contractors, our suppliers. The past few years of uncertainty, as has been mentioned, have been challenging. But the professionalism, the patience and the resilience of our people and the local community and everybody in the supply chain here has helped support this positive outcome. With this agreement in place, our focus remains on doing what we do best, getting on with the job of making high quality aluminium for niche markets and supporting Tasmania and Australia’s sovereign manufacturing capability. I also want to acknowledge the Northern Tasmania community. We know that many people have been concerned about the future of the smelter. Your support, your patience and your confidence have meant so much to us. We’re proud to continue contributing to this region’s future. Finally, thank you again to everybody who has helped make this possible. Many people recognise the importance of having actively championed for our business and the positive impact that it has on our region and on the state. Thank you very much.
TIM AYRES, MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY, INNOVATION AND SCIENCE: I really want to start where Richard just finished and that is to first of all say thank you to the management team and the workforce here at Bell Bay Aluminium. I see Lee, Richard, others here who, you know, it’s a tough job leading amongst uncertainty. And they’ve done that work. The workers here and the trade unions here at Bell Bay Aluminium have stayed the course. They’ve turned up very early every day and made sure that we’re producing here Australian aluminium metal, high quality in a safe way, in an efficient way for Australian markets and for international markets. This investment would not have been possible without everybody here sticking together and that’s what the Albanese Government wants to see. The workers, businesses, working together with the state government and with us, with trade unions, with the local business community, 500 jobs here, a thousand indirect jobs secured because of this intervention. So I really want to say thank you to everybody who’s worked so hard here. Jess Teesdale, she has been a champion for this in Canberra, I can tell you. There has not been a day in Canberra where Jess hasn’t sort of appeared in my office or the Prime Minister’s office telling us something new, telling us what’s going on down here and demanding on behalf of Northern Tasmania and her electorate and this beautiful community down here in Georgetown that we find a solution to support this facility. I’m really pleased with this work. The final thing I just want to say about all of this, we have the biggest pro-manufacturing package of any government in Australian history that’s delivering right here, but it’s delivering here because the work that everybody has done together, Australians delivering every single day in a facility that as the PM just outlined, looks old from outside, but there’s brand new ingot casting machines that are the most modern machines in the world. There’s 500 pots in three pot lines that have to be renewed every few years and that work is going on to deliver an efficient capability here. We’re going to keep working together over the coming years to deliver a strong industrial future in Tasmania.
NICK DUIGAN, TASMANIAN MINISTER FOR ENERGY, RENEWABLES, PARKS, HERITAGE AND SPORT: Well, look, today’s a great day. Today is a great day. I have spent a lot of time in Georgetown and let me tell you today is a great day. There has been no shortage of uncertainty and of anxiety in the community and I feel that I’d like to take this opportunity of course to thank our team. Premier, you have carried a lot of this load, Minister Ellis, for the work that you’ve done around securing this package of course Prime Minister and your team and your engagement and of course Richard and the local Rio team here. In business and in life, a win-win is the best outcome. That’s what we’ve got today. We’ve got a win for the state of Tasmania for the 550 employees, for the people of this region, you’ll see security and longevity of their positions here at this moment. We’ve got a win for the state because of those things, the economic activity that brings the return to government that it brings. It’s a win for Hydro because of those returns to government. And of course it’s a win for our country because we are making things here in Australia and that is what we want to be doing. We want to have those manufacturing jobs here in Australia. So I’d like to take this opportunity again to particularly thank those at Hydro Tasmania. This has been a long negotiation. This has been 18 months pretty much of talk going backwards and forwards and to keep those negotiations going in good faith has required a great deal of shared faith in the process. And so I thank Hydro, thank Rio locally particularly for those negotiations and then of course more latterly governments become involved to provide this support package.
PRIME MINISTER: Okay, we’ve already determined now who’s getting any hard questions. Is that okay Jeremy?
JOURNALIST: Perhaps Prime Minister, we’ll just start on some of the nuts and bolts of the deal. Can you talk us through $200 million package and perhaps provide a bit more detail on what it actually entails?
PRIME MINISTER: Yeah look, it’s 50-50, an agreement between the Commonwealth and State over those five years. There’s provisions in there, some of which are commercial, which go to the price of aluminium. So, we would expect, at the moment the price is very good, very high. So, we expect that the exposure is very small in the early years. But we’ve been absolutely determined to drive a deal that is in the interests of taxpayers, the Commonwealth, the State, but also in the interest of the company that has to obviously make a return on its investment to encourage that further investment. But also to bear in mind, as the Premier said, the amount of flow on benefit of this investment is extraordinary. And that’s why, I mean, there’s a rugby league game on Sunday, I know this isn’t a rugby league state, but if you wanted, two prop forwards are pretty important. They’re equivalent of your centre, right at the clearance level. And if you wanted the equivalent of those boys from the Lions who did so well last Saturday, then these two Northern Tasmanian House of Reps in Anne and Jess, like you just give them the ball and they’ll just run straight and they’ll knock over anything in their way. Talk about punch above their weight. And so to Jess and to Ann, but for everyone who’s been a part of this, it really is a very successful outcome.
JOURNALIST: Can you clarify, does the $200 million include the hydro power deal or are they separate?
MINISTER AYRES: So this is, what I had indicated publicly and privately to the Tasmanian Government and to Tas Hydro is what we needed to see was the most competitive electricity price for this facility and that work has been done. This is a $200 million contribution from both governments. 50/50. That fills that gap and makes sure that there’s a platform for continued operations here at Bell Bay.
JOURNALIST: Are you disappointed that it’s not a 10 year deal like what was initially sought after when discussions initially started?
MINISTER AYRES: Well, this is the deal that we have delivered. It takes us well into the 2030s. A five year deal is a long period of certainty for this facility, provides a platform for plans for investment here, but also a focus on delivering investment. Deploying our National Reconstruction Fund, making sure that our Future Made in Australia agenda is here for Northern Tasmania where there’s so much investment potential for manufacturing, clean power, great industrial capability, a supply chain in this community, an engineering capability that is some of the strongest in the country. This facility, while it looks old from outside, there is some of the highest quality, most modern aluminium smelting and processing capability in inside this facility. The job doesn’t finish today with the announcement of this deal. We will keep working with Rio Tinto and the Tasmanian government to deliver more industrial investment in Tasmania.
JOURNALIST: Minister, just to be clear, can you articulate exactly how the $200 million will be spent over the five years?
MINISTER AYRES: Yeah, it’s $200 million that will be provided to Rio Tinto to fill that gap. There’s appropriate, it’s a complex deal. There’s appropriate arrangements to make sure that there’s a cap on expenditure every year and that there are thresholds as the aluminium price is high and continues to rise, there are thresholds to protect that investment. That it’s capped and that in fact smaller amounts may be required every year. It’s a good smart deal that protects the interests of the taxpayers but most importantly delivers a platform for investment in 500 direct jobs and 1000 indirect jobs in a part of the world that really needs to see this kind of investment.
JOURNALIST: Is there an aluminium price where no subsidy will be paid?
MINISTER AYRES: Yes, there is a linear progression in the agreement that provides for confidence from Rio Tinto and security for the two governments and a platform for the investment to continue. But the contribution of the two governments declines over time.
JOURNALIST: Rio Tinto was a company that recorded a $10 billion profit this year. Why should it get a subsidy from hard working Australian taxpayers and Tasmanian and Australian taxpayers?
MINISTER AYRES: Well, I want to see Rio Tinto continuing to produce high quality aluminium here in Tasmania. I want to see Tasmanian workers and Tasmanian businesses continue to engage their skills and their capabilities in Australian manufacturing. Unapologetically, this government, the Albanese government, is for that local manufacturing to happen here. We live in an era where production can happen anywhere in the world. We’ve acted to secure it in Central Queensland, to secure it in Tomago, and to secure new electricity investment there and to secure it here in Bell Bay. That’s because of the government’s intervention, working closely with the state governments, in this case with Premier Rockliff and his team and with the leadership of Rio Tino to deliver that. I’m grateful for the cooperation that there’s been in that effort. And you only achieve these things by working together.
JOURNALIST: Minister, you were in town on Monday, the Prime Minister was in town on Monday. When was this deal actually struck and was it initially next being announced a little bit earlier and only being announced today?
MINISTER AYRES: Well, what I’ve learnt from engaging in these processes is that a deal isn’t done until it’s concluded and that we have, the Prime Minister’s direct engagement with the leadership of Rio Tinto has been absolutely important here. The Premier and I meeting with Ulric Adom and his team from the leadership of Rio Tinto in Australia earlier in the week was critical to concluding this agreement. And if you choose to make a high quality agreement that delivers certainty, sometimes you’ve got to work through the hours and days to make sure that it is a high quality agreement that delivers for Australia, delivers for Tasmania and delivers for this facility.
JOURNALIST: Just to confirm, this announcement is plugging the gap between the state and Hydro. Is that correct?
MINISTER AYRES: Yes.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, earlier this year, Minister Duigan said it was a $60 billion gap. It now appears to be a $40 billion dollar gap. Does that mean that Rio Tinto moved on their position?
What it means is that we’ve got a deal done. We’ve got a deal done. We got a deal done, concluded a couple of days ago. Discussions took place Monday afternoon. This is my second visit to Tasmania this week. It shows how much I love the joint.
JOURNALIST: Does this power deal with mean that there won’t be enough electricity within Tasmania to facilitate the Firmus AI data centre just up the road?
MINISTER DUIGAN: Thank you. No, certainly not. Tasmania has plenty of clean, green, renewable energy via Hydro Tasmania and we will, you know, we fully expect it to be providing the load here to Rio Tinto for the next five years and beyond. And of course we are looking to facilitate further investment opportunities here in the state, and having that green grid and that renewable base load energy is one of Tasmania’s absolute advantages. And we want to be a government that encourages further investment in our state.
JOURNALIST: Minister, two weeks ago I asked you if you were looking at a 2 year, 5 year, 10 year, or 17 year power deal. Now it’s 5 years power deal, what’s changed in the last two weeks?
MINISTER DUIGAN: Well, a few things have moved in the last few weeks. As I say, this has been and has been mentioned by others. This has been a live negotiation and we have moved in various directions. What I think we’ve got before us today is a really good, balanced, structured deal that as I say provides a good outcome for all parties and that’s a really tough thing to do. So, we understand that there’ll be a three year review period where we’ll look at what the future of this smelter looks like going forward. Obviously that’s something that Tasmania is very invested in. But having that surety for the next five years is critically important.
JOURNALIST: Are you disappointed you couldn’t do a 10 year deal that you had initially hoped for?
MINISTER DUIGAN: Look, you know we would expect to see Bell Bay Aluminium here for 5 years, 10 years and beyond. So, no, we’re very pleased to have the deal on the table that we’ve struck. As I say it’s a win-win for all parties. That’s not always the case in these kinds of negotiations. So, very pleased to sign on the line for this one.
JOURNALIST: What’s the estimated subsidy in 2027?
MINISTER DUIGAN: The estimated subsidy, so again this is a deal, so Hydro and Bell Bay Aluminium have struck an energy deal on commercial terms. And I think that’s really important. It’s a deal that serves both of those parties. It was concluded at arm’s length from government. The subsidy is tied, or the support package is tied to the aluminium price. So at a high price, no subsidy. At a low price, the subsidy plays and there is a linear progression between those two points. So, it is a support package based on the London Metals exchange price of aluminium.
JOURNALIST: So, you don’t have an estimated subsidy for 2027?
MINISTER DUIGAN: So, what we have is cap. There is a cap, a five year cap of $200 million. I think it’s capped at $50 million per annum. It won’t be in excess of $50 million per annum between the two governments. But we don’t have the numbers as yet. As I say that is dependent on the metal price.
JOURNALIST: When does it actually start?
MINISTER DUIGAN: The new deal will start on the 1st of January 2027.
JOURNALIST: And just to confirm the support package money, will that be all going towards Hydro or is that solely to support the businesses other operations?
MINISTER DUIGAN: No. So, Hydro and Rio Tinto have struck a power deal, a commercial power deal. The support package is separate to that arrangement.
JOURNALIST: And when did Hydro and Rio sign that deal?
MINISTER DUIGAN: Look this has all been happening, as the Prime Minister mentioned, over the course of the last 18 months. We’ve been having those conversations, but the real work has happened this week. So, there were conversations with the Hydro board yesterday and we’ve got the deal done.
JOURNALIST: Was the $200 million package part of the plan or was it initially a power deal and it’s grown into this support package?
MINISTER DUIGAN: So, again, there have been a number of considerations fed into this negotiation, as you would expect. And as I say, this has been, I think, a deal which bears scrutiny. It is tied to the profitability of the site and it protects the taxpayers on one hand, but provides the certainty for Rio Tinto to continue providing its very substantial benefit to Northern Tasmania.
JOURNALIST: For a long time Minister Ayres said this is a thing for Tasmania to fix. When did Minister Ayers get involved and decide that some money was worthwhile putting towards it?
MINISTER DUIGAN: Look, I think both the Prime Minister and Minister Ayres, and I won’t speak for them, and I won’t verbal them, but have made –
PRIME MINISTER: Good, given we’re right here. You’re a very wise minister.
MINISTER DUIGAN: In terms of the green aluminium production credits, obviously there was some movement in that piece of work. And so since perhaps earlier in the year when we understood that green aluminium production credits were unlikely to be the mechanism by which support was delivered.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, just on housing, house prices are falling rapidly. Are the budget’s tax reforms working as you wanted?
PRIME MINISTER: The budget tax reforms, what it will enable is for young people to get access to home ownership. And the changes that we put in place were a direct result of the impact that the 1999 changes were having where we saw house prices increase by 400 per cent. Many times more than what people’s incomes were. And increasingly what we saw was a generation of Australians potentially priced out of ever owning their own home. We want young Australians to own their own home, to have the same opportunity that previous generations have had. And that’s why we put in place the changes. But the changes importantly as well that we have put in place allow for if someone wants to invest in an investment property and still use negative gearing and still use a 50 per cent capital gains tax discount, then of course they can, but it’s got to be a new build. And why are we doing that? Because that will help to build supply. Now that doesn’t happen within a month or two months or three months of the new financial year, but that will happen over a period of time and that will lead to an increase in supply. And we know that supply is absolutely critical.
JOURNALIST: More than 150,000 first time buyers have taken up your 5 per cent deposit scheme. What do you say to those who are now in negative equity?
PRIME MINISTER: What I say is that there are less people in negative equity now from the latest figures than there were under the former government, around 2000 during the last decade. So, the truth is that people are investing. When you invest in your home, it’s an investment in long term. It’s an investment in the security that comes from a roof over your head. And having the security of roof over your head enables you to plan with certainty. To have a family, to invest in education, you get better health outcomes. You get better outcomes across the board when people have the security of a roof over their head.
JOURNALIST: Chris Minns says that the New South Wales Government has been careful with public money as to not worsen inflation. Do you take that as a swipe at the federal government? And is he trying to distance himself from federal Labor?
PRIME MINISTER: No.
JOURNALIST: There’s a new Green leadership team. What do you think of Shoebridge and Hodgins-May?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, I’ve got to say that, firstly, I wish Larissa Waters all the very best with her health issues. That’s the first point. Second is I congratulate Senator Shoebridge and Senator Hodgins-May on their election as leader and deputy leader. It’s a great honour to lead a political party in Australia and I wish them well. I look forward to constructive engagement with them. It was somewhat concerning, I think, that at a time where we see a rise of a far right wing party, Senator Shoebridge took the opportunity to actually criticise Labor. Sounded a lot like some of the people who didn’t win their seats at the House of Representatives election last May. So, the Greens political party, you know, I’m a Labor loyalist. We are a party of government, not a party of protest and that’s the difference. When you’re a party of government, what you can do is do agreements like we’ve done today to protect jobs and to make a real difference for people’s quality of life.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, a question from your home city. The Treasurer, Jim Chalmers, keeps telling us things are more expensive since the war in the Middle East. Outside of fuel, what is more expensive and why?
PRIME MINISTER: Fuel, well, I think you know the answer if you think about it. And whoever sent you that question would know the answer too.
JOURNALIST: I’ll probably tell them.
PRIME MINISTER: I hope you communicate to them the fact that when petrol goes up in price, then everything, for example, that goes on a supermarket shelf gets carried there on a truck – that increases the price. People going to and from work, engaging in work, often using their vehicles, that adds to price. It has an inflationary impact, which is why it’s had an inflationary impact right around the world. Right around the world, which is why we are seeing that, which is why we continue to call for a de-escalation.
JOURNALIST: The ACTU have called for tech giants to be levied to build a local AI industry rather than depending on foreign companies. Is that something you would consider?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, we engage constructively with companies, including major ones, that are internationally based. This is a technology that in particular has been driven from the United States and China. That’s not to say that there won’t be Australian based businesses and there are already involved in AI and it’s a real opportunity for Australia. That’s why we see, as well as the risk that we need to mitigate, we see a real opportunity in seizing that. In making sure that Australia can benefit. We have a number of advantages – we’re a Five Eyes country, we have a lot of space, including powered by renewable energy. We have some attributes which are unique – that puts us in a strong position. And AI does have risks, but it also has potentially enormous benefits for humankind. To lift up the quality of life, to boost productivity of businesses, including ones here, I’m sure. In the manufacturing sector there are enormous gains that can be made in productivity and that’s one of the things we want to drive the economy. But also in areas such as health care, AI has the potential to just revolutionise health care and diagnosis that occur in a really efficient way to make an enormous difference for humanity. But as Pope Leo has said in his encyclical, we need to make sure humans are in control. We need to make sure that that occurs. And that’s why we’ve established a parliamentary committee chaired by Jo Briskey. That’s why as well, we’ve said that we’ll have Australian standards for AI and we look forward to having at least an exposure draft of that legislation by the end of the year. Thanks very much.
