Press conference with Minister Madeleine King, Premier Roger Cook and WA Minster Bill Johnston

Subjects: Energy Transition Summit, WA’s path to Net Zero, Carbon Capture and Storage.

ROGER COOK: Thanks very much for coming, everyone, to the Energy Transition Summit. I'm obviously joined by great colleagues and friends, Minister Chris Bowen, Minister Madeleine King and our own Minister Bill Johnston.
 
Bill and Chris have already presented at the Energy Transition Summit and Maddie will be presenting later on today.
 
This is an important opportunity for industry, unions, community and government to come together to build on our consensus about what Western Australia's path to net zero looks like.
 
It's about understanding about what our unique pathway will be, particularly given the important contribution that we will make to providing the critical minerals for other jurisdictions and Australia in terms of development of battery energy storage capabilities right across the globe. But also about how we can assist other countries to decarbonise their economy in addition to the decarbonisation of the Western Australian economy.
 
These are very complex issues and very important ones. We will see a range of presentations today looking at all the challenges and opportunities that come with this great mission that we're all on.
 
In addition to that we've made a range of announcements today by the State Government to the value of around about a billion dollars.
 
They include over $700 million for the start of the upgrade of the southwest grid, which is about providing the poles and wires that are necessary for companies to electrify their business as part of their own decarbonisation projects. But also how we can continue to feed the demand and the supply of renewable energy right across our southwest region.
 
We reflected on the fact that early stages of planning have now started with regard to the northwest grid, which has been made possible by the great collaboration we have with the Federal Government, with $3 billion of concessional loans to make sure that we see the integration of our power generation and power consumption in relation to our great northwest where we have so many of our large mining operations.
 
We also announced today over $160 million worth of subsidies for companies looking to establish themselves in our strategic industrial areas and [indistinct]. These are companies that are looking to develop green steel, battery manufacture, hydrogen and ammonia production. And so obviously will provide an important opportunity for us to continue our pathway to become a renewable energy superpower right across this region.
 
Now I want to stress we've talked today about the importance that gas will play in relation to our green energy future. A firming fuel and a transition fuel, particularly for our Asian neighbours.
 
But this isn't about needing gas [indistinct]. We know we've got important work to do to make sure we lower the emissions in our gas extraction and production facilities, and so today we've released the findings of our CCS, Carbon Capture Sequestration study, which looks at the geological formations which will make sure that Western Australia will make an important contribution towards the mitigation of carbon emissions as a result of our great gas industry.
 
They will continue over the decades, two decades, to play an important role assisting our partners across Asia to decarbonise their electricity grids, but also to make sure that they play a firming role in our electricity grids. We talked today about the importance that gas will continue to play, even in the southwest as we look to decarbonise our southwest grid.
 
We've got other issues which we'll be talking about today and they include things such as approvals, the response to the Inflation Reduction Act, skills, and of course the social licence as part of the energy transition process, and we're very much looking forward to seeing the contribution from all our speakers, and we want to make sure that we as a community travel together in relation to the energy transition process.
 
This summit is about my government's mission, my government's mission to get on a pathway to net zero and we're very much looking forward to the contributions of all the speakers and the collaboration of industry, government, unions and the community to make sure that we deliberately move along that pathway together.
 
Now I hand you over to Minister Bowen.
 
CHRIS BOWEN:  Well thanks very much, Premier, it's wonderful to be back in your State and there is no State more important to our transition to a renewable energy superpower than of course the great State of Western Australia.
 
And today as well as attending this important summit at the invitation of Roger, and congratulations to his government and CEDA for putting it on, it's a great program, I'm making two announcements.
 
A further partnership between the Albanese and the Cook Governments building on the announcements we made recently of a very important $3 billion investment in decarbonising the Pilbara through transmission.
 
Two announcements today. Firstly, we believe nobody should be left behind when it comes to the advantages of renewable energy. Not a single Australian should be left behind.
 
So today we're announcing the solar bank's allocation for Western Australia, again partnership between two governments, opening up the advantages of solar energy for communities and households in the north of Western Australia. Remote indigenous communities across the Kimberley and also households in places like Port Hedland and Exmouth. We're letting those households who don't have solar participate in community solar plans through the solar banks policy. A total investment of $19 million between both governments, helping around 2,000 households reduce their bills.
 
It often strikes me as extraordinary when I'm visiting remote Australia, whether it be in Western Australia or Northern Territory or Queensland that some of our sunniest communities have very little solar and are relying on diesel generators. It's just not okay.
 
We're determined to fix that step by step. It's a big task and this is a big step forward today, this investment of a total of $19 million between both governments to make sure that nobody's left behind.
 
Also, we are announcing the next stage today in the $70 million hydrogen hub funded by the Albanese Government for Kwinana. Moving to the next stage, front end design engineering. I'm going there after this press conference to check on progress, but I'm delighted that we're now at this stage of an electrolyser about to start construction with a potential of up to about one and a half gigawatts of green hydrogen.
 
Green hydrogen is the way we're going to export Western Australia's renewable energy primarily. Get it on ships and ship the sunshine to Europe and to Asia. And also help decarbonise domestic heavy transport in particular. Trucks will be very heavily relied on hydrogen, as well as some electric trucks as well. Both important.
 
We want Western Australia to be the centre of our green hydrogen economy. We have much more to say in the refresh of the National Hydrogen Strategy which Bill and I and our colleagues are working on. This is my first of two visits to Perth this week. I'll be back next week with Bill for the Energy Ministers meeting, but this is an important one because it takes that partnership between the two governments who are working hand in glove on energy transition to the next step.
 
Thank you.
 
BILL JOHNSTON:  Look, thanks for joining us here today at the Energy Transition Summit. It's a great initiative of the Premier Rob Cook and it shows the thinking that's going on inside the Cook Government as we transition to a low carbon future.
 
I also want to thank Chris Bowen, Minister Bowen, for another commitment to Western Australian people as we transition. Remote communities is an important part of the contribution that we're making to decarbonise Western Australia, and we're very pleased that the Commonwealth Government wants to partner on that process.
 
We're currently in the process of renewing the energy infrastructure right across the regional remote communities, 134 remote communities, and we're very pleased the Commonwealth is partnering with us on that journey.
 
We're also very pleased that the Commonwealth's partnering with us in the Northwest Interconnected System. The Pilbara is a major source of carbon emissions. To abate those carbon emissions we need to move to renewable energy. To do renewable you have to do it differently to traditional energy. That means a larger grid.
 
The $3 billion Rewiring The Nation fund is an important contribution towards that process, and we're engaged with industry on that process.
 
Of course we're much more advanced here in the southwest, we've had a longer history of having a shared infrastructure model, and so Premier Cook this morning announced the $708 million commitment of the Government for new build infrastructure in the southwest. The most important part of it is the northern reinforcement.
 
Over $500 million has been invested in upgrading the capacity of that northern line to bring renewable energy right here to where it's used by industry in the metropolitan area. This is an important contribution to expanding the availability of renewable energy. It unlocks the private sector investment into wind farms and other renewable infrastructure in our Midwest, which is probably the best place in the world through renewable energy.
 
It joins with the previous $3.8 billion announcement in the renewable energy network that we need to replace our coal fired power stations. But today's announcement is about growth in demand for the future as industry moves from fossil fuels to using renewable energy. That's an important contribution as we decarbonise the Western Australian economy.
 
Of course I was pleased today to announce that we're going to have a body called Powering WA, which is modelled on the Westport Task Force and Metronet office so that we could have a team of people across Government to bring together all the challenges that we know we're going to have in expanding our Southwest Interconnected System, building 4,000 kilometres of new transmission lines.
 
We have to make sure that we bring the community with us. We have to make sure that people understand the challenges that we're trying to solve. We have to make sure that we've got all the planning, I'm talking about land planning processes, in place. We have to make sure that we have the environmentally sustainable approaches. You have to make sure indigenous communities understand what we're doing.
 
This is an important step forward. It was one of the recommendations of the SWIS Demand Assessment that was performed Treasury, the Department of Premier and Cabinet and Energy Policy WA and it's an example of how this Government in recognising the challenges and finding the solutions as we move to a low carbon future.
 
I'll now hand over to Minister King.
 
MADELEINE KING: Thanks Minister Johnston. Thank you everyone. I want to thank my friend and also one of the members of my electorate of Brand, the Premier Roger Cook, member for Kwinana, and my friend Bill Johnston, Minister for Mines, and congratulate them on the work they're doing with my Federal friend and Federal colleague Chris Bowen, the Minister for Climate Change and Energy, on how our State in Western Australia works together with our Federal Government to make sure we can decarbonise the Western Australian economy in a sensible and reasonable fashion, because we know we are on a path to net zero in this country, and particularly this State.
 
The discussions we're having today at this Energy Transition Summit are so very important so we can talk about how that path will be and it will be sensible and the role that gas will play within it. But all of that, as the Premier said, within the context of the national and State objective of reaching net zero by 2050.
 
If I can say a quick word about the solar banks and hydrogen announcement. The solar banks announcement is so vitally important to parts of remote Northern Australia, which is one of my portfolios. This does provide equity of access to solar power for those communities that have a very challenging time with that power supply. So I congratulate Minister Bowen on that announcement.
 
In relation to the BP, I call it the old BP refinery because I grew up down the road and my dad worked there from 1956, so it's an old friend of ours I'd like to say. But it is vitally important this work in hydrogen that BP are doing and that the Federal Government are supporting. It will be the energy of the future, and that is a very important thing for Kwinana as the Kwinana industrial area has literally driven the power economy of this State since the 50s, and it will drive the future of our economy from here on in with the development of chemical processing, the processing of critical minerals. All manner of things goes on in the Kwinana industrial area that most of the world, or this State, maybe doesn't know about, but the rest of world sure does, it being one of the most important industrial hubs and best practice industrial hubs in the world.
 
So the work that BP is doing in producing that hydrogen hub with support of the Federal Government and Minister Bowen is vitally important and I do look forward to going down there this afternoon and going to BP for what would be the umpteenth time. For me personally.
 
CHRIS BOWEN:  You can show me round.
 
MADELEINE KING: Yeah, yeah, yeah. So I think we're going to move to questions, and I've got to go present soon, so I'll go first if that's okay.
 
Any questions?
 
JOURNALIST: There's been a lot of talk this morning about the ongoing importance of gas. There are two major gas projects, Woodside and Santos both tied up in the courts at the moment, at the so called environmental lawfare. Is that something that requires a legislative response from the Federal Government?
 
MADELEINE KING: Well we are obviously aware of these cases, and I want to say from the very outset that this Government respects the processes of the law. It is a reasonable thing for people to have objectives on administrative decisions. That's how we run an open democratic system in this country.
 
Equally there does need to be certainty when some judgments are announced that can create some uncertainty. I want to be very clear that this is about any review   the Government is doing a review of these offshore consultation regulations, it is about providing clarity for everyone, proponents, but more importantly the traditional owners and other people that are interested in these projects and have been affected by them or will be affected by them.
 
So my objective is to make sure that any future work we do in this area will be subject to appropriate consultation and it will be about getting clarity for absolutely everyone.
 
JOURNALIST: Is there a time frame attached to that review?
 
MADELEINE KING: We're doing it as soon as we can.

JOURNALIST: So can we expect changes to be made by next year or how far off?
 
MADELEINE KING: We're working on this as we speak, my department and others are working together to make sure we get the best possible response. We have not opened consultations but we will do and so we have to go through a process. I expect next year but I don't want to set timeframes on this. We know how that can limit the consultative process. I just want to make sure we do this job right.
 
JOURNALIST: It's a review about potentially ensuring there's adequate compensation prior to a project, or is it about the Federal Government being able to respond if lawfare occurs and projects get tied up?

MADELEINE KING: I wouldn't say we're limiting. We're looking at the uncertainty that some of these judgments have put in to the wider sphere of consultation. Because it is lack of clarity in some respects and some of that's to do with there not being enough case law in this area.
 
I'm not going to limit what we're going to do in that regard other than be very clear that what we want to get to is certainty for everybody involved.
 
JOURNALIST: There seems to be a lot of consternation and anxiety within the mining industry, private sector about the nature of positive legislation or reforms and potential adjudication with state, kind of, oversight. What are you doing to kind of consult with industry, are you advocating on behalf to, you know, your Federal colleagues? What are you hearing from Roger Cook?
 
MADELEINE KING: Well it's been every day. I want to be clear. My colleagues and I, Mr Bowen, we consult on all things together where we have intersections in our various portfolios. That's what a good government does. And obviously this is Minister Plibersek's portfolio, and the same principle applies for that, in that I speak with her about these things and obviously industry have every right to, you know, talk to their concerns.
 
But also I might add a lot of industry is very enthusiastic about the opportunities that the Nature Positive Plan proposal comes with.
 
So Minister Plibersek and her team and her Department are doing an extensive consultation around these plans and that's under way and ongoing and everyone is taking part, as well they should. So I don't think industry should be unnecessarily or unduly concerned about this because they are being engaged on the topic.
 
JOURNALIST: Minister Bowen mentioned that [indistinct] as part of those reforms, if it's going to be a no it should at least be a faster no.
 
MADELEINE KING: Oh, yeah, sorry.
 
JOURNALIST: Is that something that you're hearing from industry?
 
MADELEINE KING: Oh, and you said about that question has got a duplication issue and Minister Plibersek has been very clear about this, and the Federal Government equally. We do not want to have unnecessary, or any duplication at all. What we know is that we need to have a robust approvals process that the wider community can have confidence in. Because that's how we keep and maintain the social licence for projects that are of vital importance to our country and to our regional neighbours as well.
 
I agree that the timelines can always be improved. We can always do better. We work in an environment of continuous improvement and that's what will be happening with Nature Positive Plans, as well as any other reform we do. Quite frankly across any portfolio it is about continuous improvement.
 
JOURNALIST: Minister, just to hark back to the offshore approvals, off Scarborough and [indistinct] the issues have not been climate related; they didn't have architectural indigenous culture. Is the Government concerned that maybe tighten that up so that there's less opportunity to address those issues? It might be a bad look so soon after The Voice referendum [indistinct] power for the indigenous people?
 
MADELEINE KING: I accept the issues raised in these cases have been about Traditional ownership concerns and song lines and cultural heritage, and that's okay and it's a good thing that these things go through the process that are available to people.
 
As I said before, and I want to make very clear again, my motivation is about ensuring everybody has clarity, that there is certainty around all forms of the consultation. So it's not about limiting or making more or making less. It is about clarity. That is really the number one priority.
 
That's all for me.
 
SPEAKER: Any questions for Minister Johnston?
 
BILL JOHNSTON:  Nope.
 
JOURNALIST: Minister Johnston, the money for the transmission up north. During the development of the Whole of System Plan a few years ago you spoke quite a few times against spending government money on transmission.
 
BILL JOHNSTON:  Correct.
 
JOURNALIST: And if you did spend it on [indistinct]. So why the U turn?
 
BILL JOHNSTON:  There is no U turn. In fact at the time that I spoke I actually said that the Northern Reinforcement Line would almost inevitably be built. What the Whole of System Plan showed was that in the absence of load growth it was not required.
 
The difference between   when the facts change you change opinion. When the Whole of System Plan was tabled it showed that there was no expectation of load growth. And that's not a surprise because is there hadn't been any load growth for almost 15 years.
 
The difference now is that industry is decarbonising. Industry is demanding new electrons. So now there's load growth and so the total volume of electricity has already started to increase and is expected to continue to increase. It was increasing at about 0.8 per cent a few years ago. Now it's going up by 3.8 per cent per annum.
 
So that's changed the circumstance, therefore because of that load growth we now have to build this transmission line. That's actually exactly what I said when I presented the Whole of System Plan all those years ago. So no, there is no change in the Government's position. When load growths rise we need to build additional transmission infrastructure and that's exactly what we're doing.
 
JOURNALIST: This Powering WA organisation, will that be taking any responsibility for doing transmission lines and maybe generation from Western Power and Synergy?
 
BILL JOHNSTON:  It has nothing to do with Synergy. Synergy   please remember that all that Synergy's doing is building the power infrastructure it needs to replace the coal fired power stations.
 
Synergy has a careful plan that's been developed over a long period of time which it's now executing. That allows us to close the coal fired stations by 2030 and make sure that the capacity that they have previously provided to the grid is available to us when they close. That plan is working. By the time the batteries that have already been announced either in operation, under construction or in development, 800 megawatts of capacity will be available.
 
There's still another billion dollars available to Synergy to complete the work that they need to do so the replacement of the coal fired stations, which is what Synergy is doing, is completely on track without any challenges.
 
I mean of course in Western Australia we always have challenge with load availability, but in terms of the planning and the expectations, there's no challenges there at all.
 
In respect of what Powering WA is about, it's about expanding the grid. It's about taking the SWIS Demand Assessment process and operationalising it. The SWIS Demand Assessment was always a high-level plan, it was never the sort of detailed work that needs to be done. Now Powering WA can take that good work and operationalise it in the same way we've done with Metronet and with Westport. It brings together all the capacities of government across all government agencies to make sure that the planning and execution can be properly implemented.
 
JOURNALIST: How many people are going to be working at Powering WA?
 
BILL JOHNSTON:  It'll be a small team at the start. It'll be about 12 people, but it has the potential to grow over time if the task becomes larger.
 
JOURNALIST: When are you hoping it's up and running?
 
BILL JOHNSTON:  It will be up and running early in the New Year and we can expect it to be fully functional within a short period of time.

JOURNALIST: Minister, the $500 million investment today is a first step. Do you have an estimate on how much in total the State Government is going to have to spend on transmission lines specifically?

BILL JOHNSTON:  So all these transmission lines will be paid for by the people who use them. So the good news about the electricity system is when you build you build infrastructure because you have new demand, and the new demand brings new income. So the transmission lines that we're announcing today and any that we need to build in the future will be funded by the users of that electricity.
 
The good news here in Western Australia is the load growth that we're seeing is coming from large industrial users. So the people that will be paying for this infrastructure over time are those large industrial users.
 
JOURNALIST: How much is the Government going to have to pay upfront though for these transmission lines?
 
BILL JOHNSTON:  Well, this is our down payment on making sure that the industry can have access to the infrastructure they need. In the same as we built ports and roads, we're now building some additional transmission lines.
 
JOURNALIST: How much will they [indistinct]?
 
BILL JOHNSTON:  It's $703 million that we announced.
 
JOURNALIST: You don't expect to have to pay anything more on transmission lines [indistinct]?
 
BILL JOHNSTON:  Well one of the projects as included in the announcement by the Premier is the additional cost in reinforcing the line to Kalgoorlie. That's actually part of the 703 million. But part of it is of course also the detailed engineering that will need to be done and some long lead items on the other stage 1 projects that also being included in SWISDA, which is reinforcing the lines into Kwinana as the load growth continues there. Reinforcing the lines to the south beyond Collie so that we can unlock the wind resources in the south of the State, and additional expenditure on the line out to Kalgoorlie, both to increase the available energy for new industrial demand in Kalgoorlie but also to unlock the wind farms that are being developed through the wheat belt as well.
 
JOURNALIST: So why couldn't Western Power complete its work, and will there be expertise from Western Power in Powering WA?
 
BILL JOHNSTON:  So all the work that the Premier announced this morning is being executed by Western Power. Powering WA, that's about the implementation of the next phases of the SWIS Demand Assessment and it goes beyond the skill sets of Western Power. It's about engaging with local communities, it's about talking to Traditional owner groups, it's about engaging with industry and the broader community to make sure that all the issues, not just the engineering issues that Western Power's so good at, but all the issues about building transmission lines are dealt with before we get to the engineering phase.
 
SPEAKER: Any questions for Minister Bowen?
 
JOURNALIST: Minister, there's been a lot of talk today about carbon capture storage as a means of abating emissions from gas projects here. I'd like to hear your take on that as a technology given that in WA the Gorgon project has been $3 billion spent on that technology here and they're still only reaching a third of what was originally promised. Do you have any reservations about that technology?
 
CHRIS BOWEN: My approach to carbon capture use and storage is entirely pragmatic and practical. It needs to work and it's a complement to other emissions reduction strategies.
 
Now there are very sort of tribal and ideological views about CCUS. You've got some people on the conservative side of politics who say, "Well look, we'll do this because it means we don't have to reduce emissions in other ways". That's not correct.
 
You've got the Greens who say CCUS is evil and can never be part of the mix because we don't want any fossil fuels or any emissions at all.
 
We take, in our Government, I take a very pragmatic approach. There are sectors where it hasn't worked and won't work, like coal. There are sectors where we need it to work. And there are sectors where it's absolutely vital, like hard to abate sectors.
 
Our job in the Federal Government is to facilitate it, to legislate for it, to regulate it, and to enable that investment to occur in that environment, that stable environment.
 
Some people like to quote the International Energy Agency a lot, but they selectively quote. The IEA in their assessment as late as a couple of weeks ago says there's no net zero scenario without a big role for CCUS in some form. It's not a one size fits all. As I said, it works in some sectors, not others.
 
We have to recognise that it can and should complement our direct emissions reduction policy, which both governments have. Complement them and assist them, and particularly those hard to abate sectors.
 
So yes, there's been challenges and we want it to work better. But our approach is pragmatic, practical and fact based on CCUS right across the board.
 
JOURNALIST: Is WA a gas sector one of those scenarios where it has to work? Is that what you're   
 
CHRIS BOWEN:  Well it has to work across the board. Now yes, there's been challenges. You know, we all know the challenges in different projects. Is it the solution of all the problems? No. Is it something which should never be contemplated where it can be shown to work? That's equally incorrect. Equally incorrect. Pragmatic fact-based approach.
 
JOURNALIST: When you say it has to work, what do you mean there [indistinct]?
 
CHRIS BOWEN: Sorry, by that I mean obviously we would all agree that CCUS, which doesn't work, is not something we're interested in. We're interested in practical CCUS in areas where the investment's made by private companies to make it work in a verified, independently verified, fact-based way.
 
JOURNALIST: Do you mean [indistinct]   
 
CHRIS BOWEN:  I mean what I said.
 
JOURNALIST:    their target was 80 per cent, [indistinct]?
 
CHRIS BOWEN:  Yeah, look, I'm not singling out any particular I know you're all interested in particular projects and I completely understand the challenges that that particular project has undertaken. My stand is a broader one. We need CCUS as part of the mix. The IEA says that. No net zero scenario without CCUS. And whether it's capturing it and using it, which is the U, or capturing it and storing it, which is the S, we need it to work.
 
It's also part of the pathway, I don't want to get too technical and high level, but part of the pathway to direct air capture, which also needs to be part of the mix into the future if we are going to get to real net zero going forward. And that's a very similar technology. That's why the investment's important.
 
JOURNALIST: The BP refinery you're about to visit, is it right that that's not opening until the end of 2027? Why does it take so long?
 
CHRIS BOWEN:  Well 2027's not that far away in the greater scheme of large construction, with respect. I mean I've got construction projects which are going to finish a lot later than that. So, 2027 is not this is a big project and it's been a long time coming. So, yeah, work commences. It's scheduled to finish some time in 2027 and I think that's a pretty satisfactory outcome.
 
JOURNALIST: The solar banks project, you mentioned five regional communities. Are you able to provide us with which ones they are?
 
CHRIS BOWEN:  Well it's across the Kimberley in remote indigenous communities. There's several. And then the other component is Port Hedland and Exmouth and, you know, other smaller communities.
 
JOURNALIST: Is that initiative under way in other states [indistinct]?
 
CHRIS BOWEN:  Solar banks we've announced the deals with the ACT and Victoria, yes. And this is the   and the Northern Territory. So this is the next iteration. So it's a processed negotiation state by state. They are all at different levels of negotiation. We are announcing this one today.
 
JOURNALIST: So far as when the roll out would be expected, is that a question for the states?
 
CHRIS BOWEN:  It's complementing the state program. This is the sort of program which can be implemented more quickly. It's not 2027 and not 2024.
 
Anything else? All good.
 
JOURNALIST: Premier, you've spoken about the importance of gas today in the transition, we've got school students protesting outside today. Do you have some sort of happy plan I guess on trying to get them on side and understanding that gas has a role to play?
 
ROGER COOK:  Yeah, look, we appreciate it's not a simple argument, but it is an important one. Gas will continue to be a firming source for electricity generation for many years to come, and we will obviously shift significantly towards renewable energy. And people should be very proud of the journey that we're on. Maybe by the time some of those school students have actually graduated we would have retired all our coal fired power stations in Western Australia.
 
So that's a journey that we're all on together. It's a very important one. But we need to understand that gas will continue to play a firming role in Western Australia. But more importantly this is about saving the globe. This is about saving the world. So we need to make sure that we are part of that effort to resolve climate change across the globe. And that means assisting our Asian partners to also shift to a renewable energy future and gas will be an important part of their journey as well.
 
JOURNALIST: On gas, today you spoke about the political risk you were taking, you were kind of talking fairly candidly about how much we're going to need gas, about power issues [indistinct] increase. Why are you thinking now to take that risk?
 
ROGER COOK:  Well this is something that I announced in the very early days of my time as Premier. I wanted the Energy Transition Summit to do a range of things. One, to have this public dialogue. I think it's an important part of the conversation that we all are a part of because we are all a part of this electricity solution.
 
The other is we need to continue to make sure that we understand what the pathway looks like. That's why we need to bring together industry, unions, government and the community to really talk about how Western Australia's own unique pathway will progress.
 
The third aspect of course is to understand what governments need to do to facilitate the investment that everyone wants to see in relation to the growth of renewable energy. That's part and parcel of, you know, making decisions around how we expand our electricity grid, how we assist green energy projects to come to fruition, and how we can continue to see Western Australia be part of   move up the value chain in terms of not only the extraction of critical minerals but also about how we can refine those minerals, move ourselves along the battery manufacture supply chain and see green steel actually produced in Western Australia, something which has eluded us for as long as I can remember.
 
JOURNALIST: Why is this risky? What's the risk [indistinct] the community?
 
ROGER COOK:  Well I think the previous question really just summed it up, and to say that we should simply decarbonise in Western Australia is a very seductive argument. And I appreciate that. It's an ambition that we all have. But Western Australia's part of that journey is a very unique one and that's we need to make sure that we bring everyone together to have this conversation.
 
JOURNALIST: Can I get your take on carbon capture as well?
 
ROGER COOK:  Sure.
 
JOURNALIST: It seems like you're adopting a fairly open ended approach to it which, you know, given climate change is about a distraction of carbon molecules, they go in the air, we want to reduce that as much as we can.
 
ROGER COOK:  Yeah.
 
JOURNALIST: Do you want to see projects with 50 per cent abatement, 80 per cent like Gorgon initially promised? Can you put a figure on it?
 
ROGER COOK:  Well we had ambitions in relation to Gorgon and you see engineering design challenges associated with their CCS project, and everyone's learning from that experience. We're learning from experiences of CCS in the Northern Hemisphere as well. But that doesn't mean that we give up on the process. That means we continue to learn, refine those processes and the release of our study today shows that Western Australia has unique geological structures which makes us an ideal place to be a global carbon and capture utilisation sequestration hub. So that's another part of our important contribution to global decarbonisation.
 
JOURNALIST: Do you expect the EPA to be a little more pragmatic when it approaches, when it's considering big projects, big gas projects with carbon capture storage? Do you not want them to put a percentage on the gas extraction?
 
ROGER COOK:  Well the EPA is an independent authority, and they make decisions in conjunction with the overall perspective of a project. CCS is obviously part of that, and the EPA take a range of issues into account as part of that process. So it's not a matter of actually saying it should be 50 per cent, 80 per cent, it's a matter of actually understanding the importance of that project in the context of a whole range of green energy projects, but also in the context of the cumulative impact on the environment. That's what they do. That's why they're experts. That's why they're independent.
 
JOURNALIST: There are a range of companies pushing for exemptions to the onshore gas export. How many mineral resources did they [indistinct] and exemption [indistinct] billion-dollar investments [indistinct] if they don't get it. Do you have any sympathy for that? Will you consider exemptions in the interest of getting gas projects off the ground?
 
ROGER COOK:  Well we're certainly interested in understanding the issues that they confront in relation to getting their projects going, and we're continuing the conversations with them. Importantly, we now have a Parliamentary committee which is doing a long term investigation and analysis of those issues and we'll be informed by the outcomes of that committee inquiry as well.
 
This is a bit like the current inquiry that we're undertaking in relation to the EPA. We're looking at how we can continue to improve the projects but making sure that we're looking at how we can improve the pathways as well.
 
JOURNALIST: Did you seriously consider   
 
JOURNALIST: Do you think that inquiry   
 
ROGER COOK:  So let me just finish this and we'll come back.
 
JOURNALIST: Do you expect that inquiry to result in actual changes to domestic gas reservation and policy or just the ways in which it is enforced?
 
ROGER COOK:  Let me just say I've got an open mind in relation to the outcomes of this inquiry, and we'll be informed when it produces its report. We're obviously not privy to the conversations that they have other than the public hearings, like we all see. But the Government will obviously have an acute interest in their findings.
 
JOURNALIST: Given the Government has trumpeted its domestic gas policy do you think that the optics of reneging on the onshore gas ban for someone like [indistinct] would be hard to take? Would they pass the pub test?
 
ROGER COOK:  Look, we need to just see what the Parliamentary inquiry has to find, has to conclude, and we'll continue to have conversations with all our gas players, both offshore and onshore in terms of how they can assist Western Australia secure our energy pathways, but also to make sure that they're part of our green energy future as well.
 
JOURNALIST: How concerned are you about the so called environmental lawfare [indistinct] and Santos projects and would you like to see [indistinct] treat that as a priority in terms of potentially a registered response?
 
ROGER COOK:  Well I think we're all concerned about the uncertainty that's been created by that decision and so we'd love to see those issues clarified.
 
I've spoken to both Minister King and the Prime Minister in relation to these matters and obviously I always stand up for Western Australia so the point I made to them is we'd like to see those points clarified as soon as possible.
 
JOURNALIST: Just on the carbon capture, the CSIRO report [indistinct] $55 billion boost into the WA economy if you go down that avenue. What kind of opportunity, like economic opportunity, does carbon capture represent for WA?
 
ROGER COOK:  Well it's not just carbon capture but the whole renewable energy pathway and the net zero pathway represents both a challenge and an opportunity for Western Australia, an extraordinary economic opportunity. It doesn't matter if you look at the firming role that gas will play as a transition fuel, whether it's the critical minerals and the critical mineral processing that we can provide the rest of the world as part of the battery manufacture piece, CCS represents another great opportunity for the people and the economy of Western Australia.
 
We are on the precipice of a great opportunity for Western Australia. We've talked about the gold rush; we've talked about the development of our iron ore industry and our LEG industry. This is the next big period for the Western Australia economy. A new stage is presenting for us and it's important that we take advantage of those opportunities.
 
JOURNALIST: On the capture itself and the storage, I mean it seems WA are striving to really kind of make hay there, would you agree with that assessment?
 
ROGER COOK:  That's the advice I've received that this study has revealed that we have unique geological formations which makes Western Australia an ideal place for a carbon capture utilisation sequestration hub for the globe. We want to see Western Australia benefit but we also understand that Western Australia plays an important role in terms of the global progress to a net zero future. It's important that we now step up, understand that role. This is about us assisting our Asian partners but also the globe to reach a net zero future. If we don't take that opportunity we'll lose the opportunity, we'll lose the moral imperative that we have to assist the world to move to a net zero future, and we'll lose the economic opportunity.
 
I'm not going to let that opportunity for Western Australia pass by. This is our moment, and this is a great opportunity for us to step forward.
 
JOURNALIST: [Indistinct] on the Government's infrastructure [indistinct] at the moment there's obviously Metronet, has been for the last few years. That's coming to an end.
 
ROGER COOK:  Yes.
 
JOURNALIST: Is upgrades to the electricity network transmission lines, is that the next big State [indistinct] project for the lack of a better word?
 
ROGER COOK:  Well it's a, you know, present front and centre project that we have to look at. I'm informed by industry that they not only need new poles and wires, they'll need transport infrastructure, roads and rails, we'll need port infrastructure as a result of them wanting to import and export a whole range of components of products associated with the renewable future. So Western Australia obviously has an important part to play in that.
 
The other advice I received is that we should be looking at common user hydrogen transport, storage and export infrastructure. So you can see into the future that this is going to be a big part of our public infrastructure planning, development and delivery for the next couple of decades.
 
JOURNALIST: On a complete separate topic, a question from a colleague. What's your message to bikies today as the funeral for ex Rebels boss Jamie Ginn, there's strict rules for them to follow, what will happen if they don't follow those rules?
 
ROGER COOK:  Well as everyone knows now WA police will crackdown hard on any unlawful bikie activity and any organised crime, criminal activity. So the message to everyone that's participating in that funeral, that you please do so in a respectful way. Not only be respectful of the families who are grieving but be respectful of the guidance that police provide and adhere to that advice.
 
JOURNALIST: Just on the rental incentives, have you - are there any kind of interested parties at the moment who have sought out any kind of, or are interested in moving to WA that you think this will be the kind of   the last push that they need, and do you   is this the kind of last push that the State needs to establish battery manufacturing, which has obviously been a long term dream?
 
ROGER COOK:  Well look, we understand that the cost of living for Western Australians is a very important issue at the moment, and housing is part of the challenge that people have in relation to their cost of living. The announcements we made last week about making sure that we have more construction workers in our housing industry   
 
JOURNALIST: I meant the   
 
ROGER COOK:  Sorry.
 
JOURNALIST:    sorry, the rent incentives for the companies.
 
ROGER COOK:  Oh sorry. When you said rental I thought [indistinct].
 
JOURNALIST: The pivot [indistinct]. Yeah, no, are there any companies that are interested in   
 
ROGER COOK:  Look, we know, as you know I've been to Korea, Japan in the last couple of months, we know that there's a great deal of interest in companies establishing themselves in Western Australia, particularly those who are looking to establish green steel manufacturing facilities, hydrogen, ammonia, in Western Australia as well. They're looking for signals from the State Government that we are keen to have them in Western Australia. We think that these are the sort of incentives that they are looking to, not only understand that it can impact upon their figures, particularly early construction and production phases, but also they just want to know that Western Australia is a place that values onshore processing in relation to all the elements of a renewable future. And we are. We are keen to bring these companies to Western Australia to create jobs, to create opportunities, but most importantly of all to ensure that Western Australia is a renewable powerhouse for the globe.

SPEAKER: Thanks guys.