Good morning, everybody, and welcome here to the towns of Karratha and Dampier, up here in the north of Western Australia. It’s a true honour and a privilege to be here at the Perdaman Urea Plant today, with Chairman Vikas Rambal, and I want to just acknowledge the work you and your whole family to create what is the largest manufacturing project underway in Australia at this moment. And of course, I’m even more delighted to be joined here by Prime Minister, Anthony Albanese, Premier Roger Cook, Minister of the WA Government, Amber-Jade Sanderson for Energy, and a few other things, and also Kevin Michel, local Member for the Pilbara. It’s a wonderful project that has been supported by the Australian Government over a number of years between the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility and Export Finance Australia, the Albanese Labor Government has committed $750 million into a Future Made in Australia, made right here in Karratha at the Perdaman Urea Project. So, with that, I will hand over now to the Prime Minister to talk a little bit more about this.
ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Well, thanks very much, Madeleine. It’s great to be back here in the great state of Western Australia with Madeleine and my friend Roger Cook, the Premier of WA, but also with Amber, the Energy Minister, and Kevin Michel, the local member at Pilbara. Thank you for what you are doing here with Perdaman. This is an extraordinary project. We have here, an example of what my Government wants to happen, which is to make Australia more resilient, make us more strong going forward, and this will be the biggest urea fertiliser plant in the world, by far. It will have the biggest green hydrogen project in the world, extraordinary facility, which is here.
Now, we can see from what’s happening in the Middle East with the ongoing conflict, that the world is very much an uncertain place. And if Australia just remains at their end of supply chains, then that makes us more vulnerable, which is why the key to our Budget was making us more resilient, more self-reliant, as well as promoting reform. Now, this is a plant that’s absolutely critical, because fertiliser is central to Australia’s agricultural industry, which is why we worked very hard to procure additional shipments during this recent period. I want to thank our Indonesian friends for helping out there. But what this will enable us to do when finished, it will produce 2.3 million tonnes of urea each year. We’ve supported the project through a $220 million loan, but also additional loans to support the expansion of the port and assist the water corporation. Now, it’s estimated that this project will generate an estimated $8.5 billion in public benefit, $8.5 billion. This is an extraordinary project. It is creating 2500 jobs during construction, including the work they’re doing through the Murujuga Corporation as well, working with First Nations people in this area. This is such an exciting project, and I’ve been coming to Karratha now since the end of the last century. What I’ve seen is extraordinary growth here, and what this will do as well, with housing being built for the workers who will work here, is really lift up this area and be a part of what I know Roger’s vision is, which is for the growth of regional cities here in Western Australia, that is so important.
Further today, I want to announce that the Government will kickstart investigations into building the nation’s third oil refinery right here in WA. Our predecessors sat back and watched oil refineries close. They thought there will be always someone else who will build something, somewhere else which Australia can rely on. We know that that’s not the case. So that’s why in our Budget in May we put forward $10 million for feasibility studies for production of refining right here in Australia, and $2 million from each level of government, $4 million for the feasibility study. What we know is that here in this region has a track record of taking ideas and vision and turning it literally into the reality that we see behind us here this morning. So I can’t think of anywhere better than here. And building an oil refinery here on the West Coast would obviously build our resilience as a nation, as well as particularly benefit Western Australia, which plays such a critical role in Australia’s economy. So this will be, if it is successful, the first new-scale petrol refinery built in Australia since the 1960s. It will create a major boost for local jobs of manufacturing, along with our sovereign capability, and that’s what this whole project and this whole great city is about. It’s about building sovereign capability, building resilience, making Australia less vulnerable to the shocks which we’ve seen since February 28, an extraordinary impact on the global economy. So this is a great announcement. The money is available, straight away, and we think and we hope that this leads to extra capacity, which is our objective here, and it’s fantastic to once again be partnering with Roger and the WA Government. This is my 44th visit to Western Australia as Prime Minister in just over four years. I don’t come just during elections. I’m here regularly, and including here in Karratha and the North. I’ll hand over to Roger.
ROGER COOK, PREMIER OF WESTERN AUSTRALIA: Thank you, Prime Minister. Thank you for the opportunity to be with you everyone, for this important announcement today, and one that takes place in one of our key manufacturing projects. I want to begin just by acknowledging Perdaman and Chairman Vikas Rambal for welcoming us here today, but also to really just demonstrate what Western Australia can do when it’s determined to become that manufacturing sovereign capability, to ensure that we continue to make Western Australia a great place to live, creating WA jobs, and be more resilient into the future. In times of global uncertainty, you need a state government and a federal government that are partnering to meet the challenges of the day, ensuring that we can deal with these global shocks and undertake important projects which very much set us up for the future. Here at the Perdaman project we’ll become resilient and independent when it comes to Australia’s fertiliser needs, and today’s announcement around the feasibility study into an oil refinery capability is another important demonstration of my Government working with the Albanese Labor Government to create that sovereign capability, to ensure that we’re also resilient and independent when it comes to our oil refinery and fuel supply capability. Western Australia is a great place to do business. It’s a great place for these globally significant projects, and the Perdaman project here is a demonstration of what we can achieve. Thousands of jobs in construction, hundreds of jobs in operation, and we want to replicate that right across the state. We know that Western Australia has the capability, has the feedstock, has the workforce and the land and the transport infrastructure to create an oil refinery capability in this state as well. The $4 million feasibility study will investigate different sites and opportunities in Western Australia, predominantly in the Mid-west and the South-west, and really set us up to make sure that Western Australia can continue to power the national economy. The Pilbara is an incredible part of this world. It’s one which is endowed with extraordinary resources, amazing people, and absolute determination to make this country a success. This facility, powered by domestic gas, making sure that we can continue to bring the investments, the know-how, and the workforce to bear, can really continue to make sure that Western Australia powers the state against the future. Delighted to work with Manufacturing Minister Amber-Jade Sanderson and Resources of Northern Australia Minister, Madeleine King, to ensure that we can continue to create jobs of the future here in Western Australia. Set WA up for manufacturing capability under our Made in WA program, and continuing to work with the Albanese Labor Government so that we are resilient, we are independent, and our economy remains strong. Thank you.
AMBER-JADE SANDERSON, WA MINISTER FOR MANUFACTURING: Thank you, Premier. Thank you, Prime Minister. The state government has worked closely with the Albanese Government to deliver nation leading response to the international fuel crisis. We currently have more fuel in Western Australia at this time than we did this time of last year. And today’s announcement is about backing and shoring up that supply and all of that work that we’ve done to date. Having a refinery in WA just makes sense. We are the largest, most isolated state, we are thousands of kilometres from existing refinery capacity. We need to ensure that we have ongoing resilience in our food supply chain. We’ve worked to make sure that we have supply immediately, but our medium and long-term future, our manufacturing future, will rely on us having continued supply. This announcement will allow us to do the work to find the best location and the best parameters for this refinery. It will underpin our $90 billion resources sector. It will support our agricultural sector. It will support our transport sector. It is important economic infrastructure that will continue to deliver both jobs and growth, not just in this region, but in this state, and it can make a huge contribution to the national economy. Very excited to work with the Albanese Government. Both the Premier and I visited Canberra recently and put the case for why WA should have a refinery, and the Albanese Government have listened, and they are delivering. And we look forward to working with them in partnership with Chairman Vikas Rambal and Perdaman, and our incredible existing industrial capability. Thanks very much.
VIKAS RAMBAL, CHAIRMAN OF PERDAMAN: So I start by saying the biggest support, which I start in my life, is moving cooperation. I want to thank Peter Higgs, my friend, and Kim Wood to be part of this. Can I say a big thank you to Prime Minister and Premier who believe in my vision. I was saying to Premier in the morning, it’s very difficult to believe in a vision which you can’t show. So I came to this country for a vision in 2000 to build biggest urea plant in the world, which is running for last 25 years. For me, Australia, should be the engine of manufacturing, which I want to thank again Prime Minister Albanese, who believe in Perdaman. We have very special focus on manufacturing, and I must tell that the vision of Parliament was appreciated in 25 years now, and we feel that we have the right capability, technical skill to bring Australia proud to be self-reliant. And this Iran war has shown, I had a discussion with Prime Minister and Premier, they fully behind the industry. How can the next generation of kids can be full supply of food and supply of security of energy, because that’s where the buck stops in real life. If you don’t have, if you have kids, if food is not on table, that’s a difficult job. In the morning, I said to Chairman of Murujuga that Murujuga land will feed 80 million people, years to come. This plant here, Prime Minister has made a historical visit, will be feeding 80 million people for lifelong. We are not depending on our Prime Minister going to, which I feel proud moment that he went to get some urea from Indonesia. He will not do it again. We will be self-sufficient. I’m proud to be part of that Government. That’s what will make us different. I want to thank you, Madeleine King. She understood when she became the Minister how important this project is. Rightly so, she invested directly through the Perdaman finances, but directly with state government to, invest in port. We are building world’s biggest port. We have India will be loaded on the ports to go to the eastern states, and we feel that we have close to the farmers going forward. My background is I started a refinery in my life. We built in Mumbai, and refinery should be part of this country. We should not be depending on outside world inside what the future of Australia is now. I don’t know what Prime Minister even know that Browns project, which is talked about it, has got a lot of country state Prime Minister, and we would request Prime Minister to keep that eye that all the consulate from the state can go to this refinery project, which can be saved than crude oil from the local company manufactured here. You can’t have better story than that for the Australia to come forward. Thank you very much.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, what location do you want to shortlist for this refinery?
PRIME MINISTER: We’ll examine that through the WA Government will be in charge of formal processes. It will be jointly looked at. We want to make sure that we get the right location, but we want to make sure as well that it’s a project that stacks up, that can go forward. And that’s why you do a proper feasibility study. We’re doing it in the right order. I’ve seen some comments from our opposition today saying, “Why didn’t they do it further?” This is the opposition that sat back while fuel refineries were shutting in Australia, and under Angus Taylor as minister, had the reserves in Texas. It is absurd that that was allowed to occur, and that’s why we need to be more resilient, and that’s why WA is the ideal location for a further oil refinery. We allocated $10 million in our Budget, this is $2 million of those funds that we announced. But to be clear about it, the discussions that we had with WA, with Roger and Amber, were very clearly aimed here at WA, and they’ve been an example of us working together so closely.
JOURNALIST: Those refineries you mentioned, are proposed not being economically viable. Would the Federal Government be willing to support or subsidise more refinery to be built and set up in WA?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, the truth is that the refineries which are operating in Victoria and Queensland, the remaining two are certainly viable. They’re good projects. And one of the things that we know is that it’s an important part of national resilience. So, we think it is important. We obviously want to make sure that there’s a commercial opportunity, like this project here is a commercial opportunity. If you look at this project, the NAIF funds loans, that’s an investment that will produce a return, not just a return to the Commonwealth in terms of a repayment, but a massive return to the national economy. This is going to generate billions and billions of dollars going forward, through employment, through economic activity, through agriculture. Vikas used the figure of 80 million people being fed. You know, this is an extraordinary project, an example of what Australia can achieve with vision, with optimism, with working between government and the private sector.
JOURNALIST: On the fuel excise, could that be extended or is Sunday the end?
PRIME MINISTER: We have halved the cut in the fuel excise. We’ve done that in partnership with state and territory governments. We also have looked at other ways in which we can provide cost of living relief. That has included the tax cuts that came in on July 1, the wage increases that everyone has seen in their first pay packet who’s on an award wage after July 1 as well, as well as the additional other measures that we’ve had on cost of living. So, we’re conscious of the pressure that families are under, that’s why we continue to put forward cost of living relief. I must say cost of living relief that’s been opposed, by all of the opposition parties in our national Parliament.
JOURNALIST: So, is it ending on Sunday or Monday?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, we made that announcement some time ago that it would go, step down from the 32 cents down to 16 if you combine, the Commonwealth and state relief which is there.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, is this a case of better late than never? Would it have been better if the Kwinana BP Refinery was never closed?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it’d be better if the Coalition had never been elected. And maybe if that had happened, they wouldn’t have sent manufacturing offshore, they wouldn’t sold everything for refineries when they sat down and they closed. They actually told the car industry to leave, you might recall, and to bugger off. That was their attitude towards a Future Made in Australia. I have a Future Made in Australia agenda, which is hand in hand with the Future Made in WA, that we’re undertaking with the Cook Labor Government.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, will this feasibility study include the environmental impacts of the oil refinery in WA?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, of course, everything for approvals have to have environmental approvals for any project.
JOURNALIST: [inaudible]
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it’ll be focused on the economics, but obviously it’ll bear in mind those issues, as well as any major project does in this country. But one of the things that we’ve done as well, is to work through, so that our environmental laws have been updated. We did that, unfortunately, without the support of the Coalition. But people would be very conscious that I worked very closely with Roger Cook and his Government to make sure we got appropriate environmental laws. We want to make sure that sustainability is looked after and we want to make sure that’s done in a way for any project, but we also want economic activity to occur.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, there’s been a series of fatal road crashes across WA in recent days, a lot of them in areas where there’s increasing industrial traffic. What’s the Federal Government doing to help support the state and local governments?
PRIME MINISTER: Well in local government, we’ve doubled the Roads to Recovery Program and we’ve made that permanent. That had never occurred before. That money goes directly to local government. And on state government infrastructure, we work closely with the WA Government, and my Government has continued to provide substantial funding, for road and rail projects here in WA, as well as projects such as the port expansion. Every aspect of transport is something that we work closely on.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, can you understand the concerns around the having of last week’s Point Piper $1 million dinner? Given you said you weren’t aware of the issues around the Lee family?
PRIME MINISTER: Look, I’ve answered those questions. I attended a range of functions last week and that is what I do, and we declare any donations that are made to the Labor Party. The premise of the original reporting of that event was wrong. The newspaper was told it was wrong in advance. They chose to make those assertions anyway.
JOURNALIST: Jacinta Allan has resigned as Victorian Premier, do you think she needed to step down?
PRIME MINISTER: I want to pay tribute to Jacinta Allan as the Premier of Victoria. I worked closely with her both as Premier and previously as Infrastructure Minister in previous governments from 2007. Jacinta Allan is someone who I think is a very decent human being. Someone who’s motivated by her passionate belief in the lifestyle and in education, health, transport of Victorians and delivering for Victorians. She’s someone who can be proud, I think, of her achievements over a long period of time and I wish her well for her future. This will have been a very difficult day. Politics can be a very tough business, and I’ll work with whoever is the Premier or Chief Minister in in any state or territory. I enjoy good relations with all of the Premiers and Chief Ministers, and I certainly wish her well in her future.
JOURNALIST: Four Corners has found some tomato products might be misleading and not Australian grown, are actually using tomatoes from China [inaudible]. Will you reconsider a ban on products from Xinjiang like the United States has done?
PRIME MINISTER: We have strong laws when it comes to food security, and we’ll continue to examine all of those issues, we produce fantastic food right here in Australia. And one of the things we’re about, where we’re standing now, is about increasing that capacity for Australian-made agriculture. Why? Because it builds our resilience. Why also? Because we produce the best products in the world.
JOURNALIST: Does the new oil refinery warrant a re-think of the PRRT?
PRIME MINISTER: No.
JOURNALIST: Where we’re standing today is obviously a future urea plant. Is any of this urea being reserved for domestic Australian farmers use?
PRIME MINISTER: Well, it hasn’t been built yet –
JOURNALIST: [Inaudible.]
PRIME MINISTER: It hasn’t been built yet and produced. When it’s produced, obviously, a whole lot of this is going to go to Australian farmers. That’s why it’s being built.
JOURNALIST: Perdaman has the existing commercial relationship, inaudible, has already come up today. Will this oil refinery place greater pressure on inaudible?
PRIME MINISTER: No, it’ll go through the normal processes.
JOURNALIST: Prime Minister, with this oil refinery, would it be enough to guard Australia against price shocks the next time Trump decides to start a war?
PRIME MINISTER: Well that’s a loaded question but look, what we have said is that the war in the Middle East, we are not protagonists in it but it’s having an impact here, like it’s having an impact right around the world. One of the things that building national resilience does, is it makes Australia less vulnerable to the impact of events around the world.
JOURNALIST: And regarding the Secret Harbour by-election, are you deliberately staying away from Perth today to avoid the campaign?
PRIME MINISTER: I’m here because this is where it’s being built. It would be very odd to make an announcement about Perdaman, which was not here, I would have thought. So, I have seen some of the rather bizarre commentary. By-elections have taken place recently in Victoria, in my home state of New South Wales, in Queensland, in Northern Territory. It’s not normal for Prime Ministers to attend state by-elections and I reckon Roger Cook’s Government is doing a fantastic job, and the idea that anyone can argue, we have differences in politics, but if someone can tell me that there’s been a leader or a Minister from the East Coast since Federation, who has been to WA more often than I have, then good luck with that. And I note, I don’t come just during election campaigns. I know that the leader of One Nation has been in Parliament for the same period of time that I have been. I’d ask you to add up how many times she’s been to WA. I’ve been to Karratha more than some political leaders and Prime Ministers in the past have been to WA, as Prime Minister in the last four years. So, I continue to visit WA regularly and I always love it here and I enjoy a very good relationship with the WA Government and I wish them well in every election.
JOURNALIST: And regarding Jacinta Allan, have Victorians left it too late to save the furniture in November’s election?
PRIME MINISTER: I think that is very clear that Victorians will have an option in their election in November. They can choose a Labor government that has built new hospitals, that’s built new schools, that’s built the Melbourne metro that is concerned about the interests of Victorians, including the new housing, which has been built there. Or they can choose a chaotic coalition of the Liberal Party, One Nation, and the National Party, including a political player that doesn’t even know who its leader is or who its candidates are, that would be a recipe for chaos and I want to see the Victorian Labor Government re-elected.
