Interview with Jeremy Jones, ABC Capricornia

JEREMY JONES: AQL Alumina in Gladstone has is more than 50 years old. And yesterday the Federal Government announced a $93 million upgrade for the facility. It's received the largest funding package from our Powering the Regions Fund, the government's put in place, and the Minister for Climate Change and Energy, Chris Bowen, joins us now. Minister, thanks for joining us.

CHRIS BOWEN: Pleasure Jeremy.

JEREMY JONES: Big news this morning. How is the money going to be spent?

CHRIS BOWEN: Yeah, so it is big news. It's $93 million, or nearly $94 million, for the Queensland Alumina Limited facility in Gladstone. It's a retrofit a temperature digestion unit. What does that mean? It means they'll reduce their amount of coal and gas, reduce their emissions and make themselves more viable. As you know, Jeremy, around the world, consumers and investors are requiring companies to show what their decarbonisation plans are. And Alumina is no different.

And we recognise that these are big investments and companies need to make investments. But also, as we're requiring these reductions, government can co-invest as well. And that's what we're doing with QAL. And this is one of nine projects across the country. It's actually the biggest one. Gladstone gets the most support, the most funding, at $93 million out of the $330 million across the country.

And in total, these will reduce our emissions by 830,000 tonnes every year. You might ask, well, what does that mean? What's equivalent to taking a quarter of a million cars off Australia's roads, so it's a big deal.

JEREMY JONES: And were there discussions about just building a new facility rather than upgrading the existing infrastructure?

CHRIS BOWEN: We always have all sorts of plans and thoughts and companies do as well. But obviously, when you've got a big facility there already, lots of money already invested in it, it makes more financial sense to upgrade an existing facility where you can, as opposed to building something new from scratch.

JEREMY JONES: These projects are the first to roll out of 134 million batch of the 60 million Safeguard Transformation Stream. Could we see other Gladstone facilities receive funding?

CHRIS BOWEN: Oh, certainly. I mean, I'm a regular visitor to Gladstone. We've supported Gladstone investments in the past and I've got very little doubt that under other streams, we'll also be supporting Gladstone in the future. But this is no small deal. But I've announced today $93 million for the QAL Alumina refinery. It's a big deal.

JEREMY JONES: And using an existing facility as well, I guess there's ongoing jobs that come with that. What's your understanding of what the impact will be for the local economy?

CHRIS BOWEN: Look, the jobs here would be mainly in construction and, you know, in the retrofit. But more importantly, Jeremy, it makes the facility more viable. As I said, investors and consumers around the world are saying, "well, we want to buy our products from companies that have real plans for emissions reduction". I mean, companies aren't doing this for fun. They're doing it for two reasons: governments require it and consumers demand it. And so it makes the facility more viable into the future.

JEREMY JONES: Last week we attended a summit into energy streams in Gladstone. A few people had their say at the forum and there were mixed thoughts on nuclear. Some people were keen, others said, "no way". As the Liberal party has brought this debate forward, have you received any feedback from your constituents about nuclear?

CHRIS BOWEN: Oh, yeah. And concerns right across the country as well. I understand people have different views about nuclear. And the thing is, Jeremy, that it's a very risky proposition for Australia.

It's risky because it takes a long, long time to build and it's very expensive to build. And the Liberal Party says, oh, we're going to build this nuclear and that'll leave us, we can rely on coal for longer. But the thing about coal fired power stations is as they're getting older and older, they're getting more unreliable. It stands to reason, right? You've got a coal fire power station which is many decades old, it's just going to break down more often and they are breaking down more often. So, that would lead to blackouts, because what we would see is more reliance on the old technology, waiting decades for the new technology, the new nuclear to come on. It's also the most expensive form of energy available. The cheapest form of energy is renewable. Then there's gas, then there's coal, and then nuclear is the most expensive form. So, it's a risky proposition for Australia.

JEREMY JONES: Well, Minister, a big thanks for joining us on the Breakfast Show this morning.

CHRIS BOWEN: Pleasure Jeremy. Have a great day. And to you and your listeners.