PRIME MINISTER:
Thank you very much Dan for that welcome and it’s great to be here. It’s great to be here with the Minister for Jobs and Innovation Michaelia Cash, the very energetic Minister for the Environment and Energy John Frydenberg. Darren Chester, who is the Federal Member for Gippsland and the Minister for Veterans Affairs and his neighbour from Gippsland, Russell Broadbent, the Member for McMillan, Jane Hume, our Senator from Victoria and Tim Wilson, the Federal Member for Goldstein.
Of course, Jaala Pulford, the Minister for Regional Development and Minister for Agriculture is here representing the Premier. Peter Walsh is here, the Member for Murray Plains and Victorian Nationals Team Lead and Russell Northe, the Member for Morwell, the Victorian Legislative assembly is here with us as well.
I want to welcome Mr Daisaku Hiraki, the Parliamentary Vice-Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry and of course the representatives of the Japanese companies that are our partners in here, Mr Shigeru Murayama, Chairman of Kawasaki Heavy Industries, Hiroshige Seko, who is not attending here, but he’s giving a video message I believe, he’s the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry. We have Mr Masayoshi Kitamura, the Chairman of J-POWER, Mr Hisato Ueha the Executive Vice President of Iwatani and Mr Shigeru Yamazoe, Vice Chairman of Marubeni.
So it’s great, we’ve got a great set of Japanese and Australian representatives from Government and industry here today. This is a very exciting project and it’s one that I have often discussed with your Prime Minister, Vice Minister, Shinzo Abe. He’s paid a lot of attention to this and he’s very excited about it. It is amazing to think that brown coal here in Victoria is going to be keeping the lights on in Japan.
This is cutting edge technology, this is energy of the future.
It underlines the importance of having a technology agnostic approach to energy. It’s the point Josh was talking about at the Press Club yesterday.
It underlines everything we’re doing to make sure that we have affordable and reliable power, that we meet our emissions reduction commitments and above all, we keep the lights on and that Australians can afford to keep them on.
Of course that’s what the Japanese will be able to do using this very clean fuel of hydrogen.
Now in terms of the local economy – and that’s what the Deputy Mayor has spoken about and I know what Darren and Russell are so focussed on, this project is going to create 400 local jobs for Latrobe Valley workers. We are making, the Australian Government is making, a $50 million contribution for this project, this hydrogen energy supply chain pilot.
Now we know that the region has had a tough time in recent times with closures. This project will ensure there are more jobs for Latrobe Valley workers, not just today but in years and decades to come. It is critically important that we invest in the energy sources of the future and that we affect the transition from older forms of generation to new forms of generation and we do so seamlessly. Getting the transition right is critically important.
Now, we’re focussed on creating the investment environment to drive projects like this one, to create new industries and more jobs.
Just like the National Energy Guarantee provides the confidence for investment into our energy for affordable and reliable power, our strategic support for this fuel of the future, hydrogen, opens up new possibilities for innovation in energy.
As we’ve said, it will see brown coal from here in the Latrobe Valley, converted to hydrogen, liquefied and then exported to Japan. That’s why we’re backing this job-creating project with $50 million.
Innovation, exports, all coming together to create jobs for Latrobe Valley workers and another sign of the stronger and more comprehensive partnership between Australian and Japan. We have never been closer, Ambassador, Vice Minister, our two nations are working more closely together than ever and particularly in these areas of technology, where we know we both have to be at the cutting edge.
It is the brilliance, the technological brilliance, the investment confidence, the optimism of Australians and Japanese working together that will ensure this very ancient resource of brown coal produces one of the critically important fuels of the future.
So I’m delighted to be here with you all and I want to say congratulations to everybody involved in the hydrogen energy supply chain project.
Thank you very much.
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