Australian Prime Minister Press Conference - Townsville

Well good afternoon everyone, it's great to have the Prime Minister of Australia coming to one of the best parts of the world, and that's here in Townsville. And he loves coming back to Townsville, he told me and it's great to have him back in town, particularly here at the Port of Townsville. Now we know how important this Port is. The Port started and then the town built around it, now we have one of the largest commercial ports in North Australia. It's the backbone of our great city and it's the backbone of North Queensland, particularly when we think about the critical minerals. So by widening this Port channel, a great investment between state government, the Port of Townsville and the federal government, all recognising the importance of this project, it really opens up the potential. Not only as an export port for us for our critical minerals, that we know that copper string will support, but also as an import and future distribution hub right out of North Queensland here. This is a pivotal piece of infrastructure and to get this widening of this Port channel through, the working together between state, federal and the Port of Townsville is so critical, but like to ask the Prime Minister to make