Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction. Will the minister advise the House how the Morrison government is supporting Australian manufacturers to grow and create jobs and ensure they have an affordable, reliable supply of energy? Is the minister aware of any alternative approaches?

Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party, Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Lindsay for her question and for her relentless focus on manufacturing in Western Sydney and right across this great nation. She is backing our manufacturers to grow their businesses and grow jobs. We are back now to a million people working in manufacturing across Australia. We haven't seen that since those opposite put in place their carbon tax a number of years ago. We are back to over a million, and 7,500 of those are in Western Sydney. There are 800 manufacturers in Western Sydney. The member for Lindsay and I were lucky enough to visit one of those, ACO, a proud Australian manufacturer in Western Sydney in her electorate, just last week. They provide the products used in the major infrastructure projects going on right across this nation, including Nancy Bird Walton airport and the Northern Road in her electorate. They, like all manufacturers that are energy intensive, rely on gas to make their products locally. They rely on that affordable, reliable energy, and they need access to affordable, reliable gas.

Ken from ACO confirmed to us that his energy costs have come down over 30 per cent. He is able to reinvest the savings from that reduction in energy costs in his business, and we want to make sure that this continues. That is what our plan is focused on and that's why we recently put out a national gas infrastructure plan, making sure that we have the pipeline infrastructure and the supply sources in place to make the most of the energy resources this country has. It includes projects like the Kurri Kurri generator in the Hunter Valley, with 650 megawatts for when the Liddell generator closes.

I was asked about alternatives. We have seen alternatives in the United Kingdom and Europe, where we have seen a 400 per cent increase in the gas price, which hasn't occurred here. But the other question is on what those opposite are planning. What's their alternative? We do not know their plan for gas, we do not know their plan for net zero and we don't know their targets for 2030 or their plan for net 2030. But we do know that the Leader of the Opposition has jokers to the left and clowns to the right, and he is having a bet each way. He is having a bet on both the clowns and the jokers. But we know that, if the member for McMahon has his way, he will be tearing up the Kurri Kurri generator, he will be getting rid of those jobs and he will be letting the price of electricity go up when the Liddell generator closes. He rejected the Kurri Kurri generator before he even saw the business case. If you want to have secure work in this country, you have to have secure energy.