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Speaker 1: We know the federal government say they've got plans to

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Speaker 1: accelerate gas exploration and development in the be Toloo sub basin.

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Speaker 1: Joining me on the line to tell us more is

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Speaker 1: the Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia, Keith Pete.

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Speaker 2: Good morning, great to be with you, great with your listeners.

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Speaker 1: Now, Minister, how do you plan to accelerate exploration in

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Speaker 1: the b Toloo.

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Speaker 2: Well, we've announced the Strategic Basin Plan for the be Toloo.

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Speaker 2: In fact, there'll be five for gas across the country,

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Speaker 2: but the b to Lou was first. It's in the

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Speaker 2: front of the queue. And today we've announced another fifty

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Speaker 2: million dollars for the B Toloo Cooperative Drilling Program and

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Speaker 2: this is about an incentive program to get more exploration

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Speaker 2: underway in the b Toloo, so we confirm the resource

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Speaker 2: up and give more confidence to industry.

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Speaker 1: Now I understand that there is already or I thought

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Speaker 1: there was already some exploration happening. Is it that you

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Speaker 1: want more happening or why exactly is that fifty million needed?

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Speaker 2: Well, there is some happening right now, but we want

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Speaker 2: to accelerate that exploration. We want to accelerate the investment.

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Speaker 2: I mean this is something in a high volume development scenario,

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Speaker 2: BLU could create up to six thousand jobs over the

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Speaker 2: next twenty years. That's a lot of work into the territory.

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Speaker 2: That's a lot of investment. And it's all about confidence.

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Speaker 2: Everything we can do that will give confidence to industry

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Speaker 2: the resources there as we expect we can get underway faster.

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Speaker 2: And of course we're targeting the dry season for next

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Speaker 2: year to get a lot of this work done.

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Speaker 1: And some minister is that funding that's available that fifty million,

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Speaker 1: that's just for the be Toloo. That's not for the

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Speaker 1: other locations around Australia as well.

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Speaker 2: Now that is just for the Beaterloo. So grants of

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Speaker 2: up to twenty five percent for those eligible expiration activities,

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Speaker 2: maximum of seven and a half million dollars per well,

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Speaker 2: a maximum of three wells per company per organization. And

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Speaker 2: of course we want this to happen in the dry

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Speaker 2: season and we think we can bring forward that gas

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Speaker 2: out of the b Toloo by two or three years

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Speaker 2: by this investment.

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Speaker 1: Now, in terms of from the Federal government's perspective, what

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Speaker 1: do you see the bea Toloo doing when it comes

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Speaker 1: to delivering energy to the rest of the country.

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Speaker 2: I mean the estimates of the moment that it could

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Speaker 2: hold up to two hundred thousand what's known as pj's

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Speaker 2: in terms of the energy capacity of total gas. Now

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Speaker 2: that is enough at a very very conservative estimate in

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Speaker 2: terms of recovery rate to meet australs gas demands for

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Speaker 2: twelve years. So this is a really big resource. It's

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Speaker 2: a very important piece of exploration work. We want to

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Speaker 2: bring it forward. We want to link it into of

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Speaker 2: course domestic gas supplies and exports and drive more industries.

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Speaker 2: And there's a lot of liquid commensate we believe there

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Speaker 2: as well, and that's really important fuel and feedstock for

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Speaker 2: plastics and pesticides and chemical manufacturing. That's all good for jobs.

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Speaker 1: And you said that that was a conservative view. I

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Speaker 1: think twelve years, what's an optimistic one.

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Speaker 2: Oh well, it's better than that. So I think this

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Speaker 2: is what it's about. Fifty million dollars from the Commonwealth.

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Speaker 2: We can firm up the resource, we can get more

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Speaker 2: exploration activities happening sooner. We think this is one of

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Speaker 2: the best ways to do it. I've got more to

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Speaker 2: say about the b Toloo and our strategic as plan

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Speaker 2: for that development. But this is great news for the territory.

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Speaker 2: Cadi's great news for jobs.

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Speaker 1: And then when you talk about manufacturing, I mean you

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Speaker 1: and I have spoken about this before. I've spoken to

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Speaker 1: Andrew Liveris about it. We talk about it and hear

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Speaker 1: about it quite a bit in terms of manufacturing. Is

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Speaker 1: the Northern Territory on the federal government radar as a

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Speaker 1: manufacturing hub? Oh?

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Speaker 2: Look, absolutely, whether we're looking very closely the opportunities for

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Speaker 2: the Northern Territory, I've got to tell you Sam McMahon

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Speaker 2: just doesn't leave me alone when it comes to jobs,

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Speaker 2: particularly in that manufacturing space around Darwin and elsewhere. But

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Speaker 2: we need competitive gas that's competitively priced so we can

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Speaker 2: be internationally competitive for that manufacturing. We've got over a

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Speaker 2: billion dollars available in our Modern Manufacturing Fund through Karen Andrews.

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Speaker 2: We know what our six key areas are and they

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Speaker 2: do include agriculture, they do include beverages, they include critical minerals.

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Speaker 2: All of these things have opportunities into the territory and

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Speaker 2: people like Sam McMahon just keep Addison Addison, She's one

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Speaker 2: a bit of a track to my office. But anyway,

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Speaker 2: that's the job, and I'm looking forward to delivering these

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Speaker 2: jobs and this funding into the territory.

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Speaker 1: Now. I know there's a lot of Territorians that see

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Speaker 1: this as being a really positive thing. They certainly look

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Speaker 1: to those jobs and look at this and look at

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Speaker 1: gas as being, you know, a better option than some

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Speaker 1: of the other options who've got when it comes to energy.

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Speaker 1: But I know that Graham Sawyer from Lock the Gate,

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Speaker 1: the Lock the Gate Alliance, He's come out this morning

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Speaker 1: and said that what this announcement clearly shows is that

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Speaker 1: fracking the Beterloo Basin for gas is not economically viable

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Speaker 1: without massive subsidies. Is that the case?

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Speaker 2: I think that's complete nonsense. We've put forward funding so

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Speaker 2: we can bring forward that exploration, that we can provide

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Speaker 2: more confidence to industry that we can get those jobs

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Speaker 2: on the go sooner. And I think everyone listening to

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Speaker 2: your program that's something they'd want that we have a

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Speaker 2: greater opportunity for the economy of the territory. We have

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Speaker 2: a greater opportunity for more jobs into the territory sooner

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Speaker 2: than it would have been otherwise. And this is one

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Speaker 2: way that we can do it. With support from the Commonwealth.

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Speaker 1: Now, he went on to say that the world is

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Speaker 1: moving away from fossil fuels and renewable energy technology is

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Speaker 1: now by far the cheapest, most efficient way to power

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Speaker 1: homes and industry. Is that the case from your perspective, No,

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Speaker 1: and so I mean should we be moving more towards

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Speaker 1: the you know, those the greener renewable energy.

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Speaker 2: Okay, look, I'm my answer before it's a little bit flippant,

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Speaker 2: but where we utilize a range, a very broad range

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Speaker 2: of generation in terms of electricity across the country, whether

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Speaker 2: it is traditional hydro, whether it's gas, whether it's coal,

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Speaker 2: whether it's sol or whether it's wind. But everything has

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Speaker 2: its place. The most important thing we can do for

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Speaker 2: electricity users, first and foremost is ensure that it's affordable.

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Speaker 2: But secondly, it has to be reliable. And we know

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Speaker 2: that intermittent wind and solar supplies can never provide that

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Speaker 2: consistency and that reliability that we need for industry. A

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Speaker 2: gas can certainly do that, whether it's used as a

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Speaker 2: peaker or like the territory where you use gas for

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Speaker 2: your electricity generation, and predominantly right now, we've got to

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Speaker 2: make sure that we can continue to provide that reliability,

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Speaker 2: that the system is reliable into the future. If we

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Speaker 2: want manufacturing, we need affordable electricity, affordable gas and the

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Speaker 2: right workforce. The territory is absolutely pump primed for these

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Speaker 2: outcomes and we're looking to make sure it happens sooner

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Speaker 2: with this sort of support.

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Speaker 1: Minister just very quickly, Well, doue to catch up with you.

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Speaker 1: I think about this time last week, but there was

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Speaker 1: a division in Parliament and you had to run off.

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Speaker 1: But there were some changes announced or certainly there was

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Speaker 1: an announcement around the NAPE, the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility.

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Speaker 1: What's happening in this space and are you hoping that

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Speaker 1: there's going to be more projects that are able to

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Speaker 1: actually access that funding under the KNAFE.

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Speaker 2: Oh, you're right, Katie. The bells the bells Parliament. That's

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Speaker 2: the priority. But yeah, I did announce more changes to

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Speaker 2: the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility. The Commwealth has made five

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Speaker 2: hundred million dollars of the two point six billion that's

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Speaker 2: currently left in the NAVE fund available for what'snelle as equity,

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Speaker 2: so effectively will become shareholders in these projects for projects

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Speaker 2: up to a value of one hundred million. We won't

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Speaker 2: be a majority shareholder, so that means up to fifty

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Speaker 2: million from the Comwealth and that should give even more

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Speaker 2: confidence to those proponents to get their projects underway. This

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Speaker 2: is something that my colleagues have been asking for for

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Speaker 2: some time, whether it is Sam McMahon and the territory

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Speaker 2: or Georgia, Christians and across in Queensland. They think it

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Speaker 2: will help drive confidence and more projects and more jobs.

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Speaker 2: I agree. We've got that through the process and it's

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Speaker 2: a significant change for the NATS. They will need further

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Speaker 2: skills internally to make those assessments, but once again, this

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Speaker 2: is about post pandemic jobs boom, jobs boom for the

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Speaker 2: territory and elsewhere, and everything I can do to make

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Speaker 2: that happen, well, that's what I'm focused on.

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Speaker 1: Well, Minister for Resources, Water and Northern Australia, Keith Pitt,

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Speaker 1: we always appreciate your time. Thank you for having a

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Speaker 1: chat today, mate.

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Speaker 2: Greater with you