Bob Katter (Kennedy, Katter's Australian Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Prime Minister, you cannot have agriculture without fertiliser. Diammonium phosphate is the most common fertiliser. The only plant in Australia is in Mount Isa, supplying almost half of Australia's needs. It is being choked to death by a monopolistic Woolworths-and-Coles-type gas supply. Prime Minister, congratulations on the reserve resource policy, but it has no teeth. Without price controls, we will still be left in a monopolistic situation. Prime Minister, will you save Australia's phosphate plant and 17,000 jobs, or will your government continue with this free-market, teacher's-pet mentality and import 100 per cent of our fertiliser?

Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

():  I thank the member for Kennedy for his question. I'll ask the minister for resources to supplement my answer, but can I say that my government has been very focused on this. As the member for Kennedy knows, I've visited the great town of Mount Isa on many occasions, including with him, and we have intervened, together with the Crisafulli government, in a bipartisan way across the Commonwealth and the Queensland governments to defend industry there, particularly because we know the phosphate industry is critical for Australia. Had we not intervened last year, if we'd had the free market 'let it rip' approach, then we would have been in a really dire situation right now. That's the truth. The Minister for Industry and Innovation, Tim Ayres, worked very closely as well with his counterparts to make sure that we weren't in that position. I'll ask the Minister for Resources to add.

I thank the member for the diligent and passionate way in which he represents that community to make sure that jobs and industry are protected, not just in the interests of the people of Kennedy but, of course, in the national interest, because those industries are so important for our national economy.

Madeleine King (Brand, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Northern Australia) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Kennedy is, of course, quite right to say that agriculture depends on fertiliser. I congratulate the Treasurer and the minister for agriculture for the fuel security and resilience package in this budget. Part of that is a $7.5 billion fuel and fertiliser security package. I'll turn to the way forward in a moment. We have secured, through the new powers given to Export Finance Australia, 90,000 tonnes of urea to Australia—we're supporting Incitec Pivot and CSBP—and 250,000 tonnes of urea from Indonesia. That's through that new mechanism. You're right to identify the supply chain challenge.

Moving to the future—this government has invested, as many will be aware, over $475 million through the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility for the Perdaman urea facility in Karratha. The government, and I as the Minister for Northern Australia, have supported a $220 million loan to Perdaman to build the largest urea plant, a $160 million loan to the Pilbara Ports Authority and a $95 million loan to the Water Corporation. This in total $475 million federal commitment to the project and supporting infrastructure will see over $8 billion of investment. I know those opposite want to take credit, but the thing is that they didn't secure the approvals for the project. That is the truth. They talk a big game, but they don't do anything and they failed to invest more in NAIF. Member for Kennedy, as you know, we will make this country urea independent. By the middle of next year is when production will commence. I think we can look forward to that.