ANTHONY ALBANESE, PRIME MINISTER: Well, thanks so much, Peter, and it's wonderful to be here with all of you. And I want to begin by just thanking you. The truth is that Peter and I sit in offices with other Ministers and people here, but the people who really run this country, who make a difference every day are the people standing in front of me. Without you - 75 per cent of the structural steel in Australia is produced right here in Whyalla - without you, we don't have Australian steel going into railway lines, going into buildings, going into our defence industries, making such an enormous difference, not just here in South Australia, but right around our entire country. And in last year's Budget, we had a theme, and the theme was a Future Made in Australia. We not only are determined to protect your jobs and expand the number of jobs here, we want that spread throughout manufacturing right around our country.
Because if there's a lesson from the pandemic, it's that being an island continent located where we are in the Southern Hemisphere, we simply can't allow ourselves to be so vulnerable that we depend upon being at the end of the global supply chains. And what makes that even more necessary and more criminal for those who don't understand that, is all the things that we dig up out of the ground - like our iron ore, like our met coal, like everything else that comes out of the ground in this country - we cannot just be a quarry that exports things overseas, waits for jobs to be created, waits for value to be added, and then import it back. That makes no sense. What does make sense is for us to take advantage of the blessings that we have received, whether it be in the sky or under the ground in this great country, Australia.
But our greatest resource isn't under the ground. Our greatest resource is the people I see before me today – is our workforce, our skilled workforce with the capacity that we have. And that's why, when the Premier of South Australia and I have been discussing this for a while together with our respective Cabinets, of how we make sure that we give you certainty, that we say, “not only will you have a job, your kids will have a job and a future right here in Whyalla.”
And so we haven't sat back and continued to watch the uncertainty. There's been this intervention through the South Australian Parliament with the leadership of Premier Malinauskas yesterday, but it's done with the full support of the Federal Labor Government. Full support. And what we have done is to combine, dollar for dollar, on administration to make sure that while a transition is going to make sure that the Steelworks keep operating, you keep being paid, the people who are owed debts, some of those small businesses here in Whyalla, get paid. But in addition to that, between our two Governments, we have $2.4 billion to make sure that this transition occurs. And we regard that as an investment in our nation. We don't regard it as a cost, because when you invest in the nation, you get a return. A return in jobs, a return in economic growth, a return in prosperity and a return in Australia, standing on our own feet, making things right here in Australia.
So just to shout out to all the people here, I know that it's been a difficult time for you. I was here with the Premier about a year ago, a bit longer. I've been to Whyalla a few times now over the years, I know that it's been a difficult period with this uncertainty. And that’s why from today there is certainty. From today there's commitment. The former Government told the South Australian car industry to bugger off. You all recall that? Well, that's not what my Government's about. My Government is about keeping jobs here. It's about growing wages. It's about growing prosperity, and it's about making things right here in Australia, thanks for having us.