Joel Fitzgibbon (Hunter, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Tragically, in September 2012 Norwegian company Norsk Hydro closed permanently an aluminium smelter in my electorate. It was in a town known as Kurri Kurri. The result was the loss of almost 400 jobs. This was tragic for the local community. The smelter had been in operation since 1969 and was obviously a bedrock of the local economy.

I was not particularly critical of Hydro at the time. They had briefed me over the course of a long period of time about the challenges they faced, and I accepted, at least partially, that it was an old smelter using old technology. It was relatively small compared to some of the huge smelters we now see around the world that enjoy large economies of scale. The Australian dollar was very high, affecting their export income. Aluminium prices had fallen dramatically, and metal prices generally had fallen dramatically. And the company had had all sorts of trouble trying to secure a more competitive electricity contract with the New South Wales government owned providers of energy. So despite the best efforts of the workforce, which had dramatically upped its productivity levels, the company took the decision to close the plant. It was a very sad day for the community, and the impact of that decision still flows into the local economy today and will continue to flow into it for some time. Again, I was not particularly critical of the company at the time. I think it made the decision that it was always going to make, and the decision had no doubt been a long time in the making.

However, I am going to be critical of the company today, very critical, because I am advised that the company has potentially made an application to the New South Wales government to dispose of its toxic spent potlining underground in a disused mine, also in my electorate. I will not name the mine, or the former mine, because I am not sure of my facts on that, but I have it on very good advice that is its intention. It has a lot of spent potlining after so many decades of operation; it will cost the company literally millions to dispose of the potlining safely. It really needs to be reprocessed somehow. I do not understand the science of that, but it needs to be reprocessed. I understand that obviously this is an expensive activity, but it is totally unacceptable, and will be totally unacceptable to the communities I represent, if Hydro continues with this idea of burying the spent potlining underground in a disused mine.

I am further advised that the intention is to encase the spent potlining in concrete. It is well known, and there is plenty of scientific literature on this subject, that this will not protect the local people or the local environment because spent potlining's toxicity and salinity will eat its way through concrete. I know it has been used in road base in the past, and that has been well and truly proven, so encasing it in concrete will not settle the concerns of my local community. I absolutely reject this application. I absolutely reject the idea that we are going to be used as a waste dump for a toxic waste product. My advice to Norsk Hydro is to stop this process now. They are wasting their time and money processing this application through the state government.

On this day when the MRRT will be debated again in the parliament, I express my disappointment and concern that the low-income super contribution scheme is about to be scrapped, denying some 3.6 million Australians what they rightly deserve. We cannot have our super scheme only benefiting those on high incomes, it must be used to assist others. I make the point that 24 of the 25 electorates which will be most affected by this are in rural and regional Australia, including those of the members for Page, Eden-Monaro, Braddon, Lyons, Bass, Capricornia and Flynn. Those members should be in their party room standing up for their constituents and insisting that the low-income super contribution scheme be retained. It is for those who earn less than $37,000 a year. These are the people that need and deserve this allowance.