It’s great to be here with the Premier and my ministerial colleagues, local members, but above all with you – the men and women of Portland Aluminium.
Today, we've reached agreement between the company, the State and Federal Government. Support from you, support from your union - the State Secretary Ben Davis is here as well - to ensure that you have the financial support, the energy you need, to keep going with this great plant, the largest exporter in the state of Victoria.
Well done to all of you.
Talking to Martin Briere, the head of Alcoa's Global Aluminium, he was telling us earlier today that this plant is one of the most efficient, one of the most technologically advanced in the Alcoa fleet.
What it needs to succeed - two things. It needs open markets. It needs markets where you can sell the aluminium you produce. But it also needs affordable energy, and it needs that energy - we've seen the consequences of the stoppage, of the breakdown that should never have happened - we've seen all those pots that were frozen and how they'll be cleaned out. Starting today Peter Schwartz was saying, starting today.
That is enabled by a $30 million grant that the Federal Government is making to Alcoa, to enable you to get those lines back into production, to get this plant operating at the full potential, the full capacity that will be maintained by the company in order to secure and retain the grant that is being made - all of that grant - right through til 2021.
So that is our commitment - to ensure that you can get back on your feet and get going again, creating great export dollars, defending 700 jobs here and over 2,000 in the region.
We're standing up for Australian jobs, for Australian exporting jobs, for Australian manufacturing jobs, for jobs in regional Australia. All of my federal team are proud to be here, working with our state colleagues, our state partners, to ensure that you get the support for your jobs that you deserve.
This is a great case of governments working together.
As Ben Davis said: “You never know, it might catch on!” Let's hope so!
I want to just say how pleased I am with the hard work that my team have put into this.
You've got a fantastic local member here, Dan Tehan. As you know, Dan has been passionate about Portland Aluminium for all of his time in politics and before - he's a local. He understands how important this is. I walked with him around Portland this morning, early this morning. The weather wasn't quite as nice at 6 o’clock in the morning. But his pride in this city, his pride in what you do and what you achieved, as we walked through the plant earlier today - that has given him the passion and the drive to ensure that you got the support you needed.
I want to say that Greg Hunt has done an outstanding job as the Minister for Industry, in flying to New York, negotiating with Alcoa. He has been supported by Josh Frydenberg, the Minister for Environment and Energy.
Our team, our whole team, our whole government, in fact, has been focused from the time there was the breakdown in transmission, from the time your production was stopped. From that very moment, we knew we had to pull out all the stops to get you back on to your feet. We were determined to make sure that we provided the support that secured your jobs, your future, Portland's future.
You are the future. Australia, a great exporting, manufacturing nation. But as I said, we need those big open markets. We've opened them up, as you know, with the big trade deals with Japan and China, with Korea, and of course with the other big multilateral deal, like the Trans-Pacific Partnership that we're seeking to conclude. We are determined to open wide more doors for your product, to give you greater opportunities to sell. But you've got to have affordable energy. You can't do it without electricity. You cannot do it without affordable energy and we're determined to work with you and work with AGL and work with Victoria to find a solution for you that will give you the affordable - and above all - the reliable power into the future to secure the future, your future, of Portland Aluminium.
So it's wonderful to be here with you, supporting you. We stand with you. It's a great day for Portland.
It's a great day for Australian jobs, exporting jobs, manufacturing jobs, jobs in regional Australia.
Congratulations and good luck in the years ahead - we're with you. Thank you very much.
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