Colin Boyce (Flynn, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last month, the federal and state governments announced a $2 billion bailout for the Rio Tinto Boyne aluminium smelter in my electorate of Flynn in Gladstone. This decision will mean the aluminium production in the region will continue till at least 2040, and, for the thousands of workers, contractors and their families who rely on this facility, that certainty matters. It means mortgages can be paid, kids can stay in the local schools and small businesses across Central Queensland can keep their doors open. I welcome that job security, and I understand and stand with the hard-working men and women in the alumina and aluminium industries who turn up every day to keep this country's manufacturing capability alive and who deserve the stability and the respect from their government.

But while I acknowledge the outcome, we must also be honest about how we got here. It is a direct result of policy settings that are making it harder and harder for heavy industry to survive in Australia. We are seeing a situation emerge in which Australia, once a global powerhouse of manufacturing and resources processing, is now struggling to keep its own smelters and heavy industry viable. We have some of the highest energy prices in the developed world, and that is not by accident. It is a consequence of Labor's reckless all renewables approach that fails to ensure reliable, affordable baseload power for industries that depend on it.

Aluminium smelting is energy intensive. It requires constant stable electricity supply at competitive prices. When those conditions disappear, so too does the competitiveness of our industries. And what happens? Instead of fixing the underlying problem, high energy costs, we end up with taxpayers stepping in to prop up facilities that should, in a well-functioning system, be commercially sustainable. That is not a long-term plan. That is a short-term patch, and it raises serious questions. Why are Australian taxpayers being asked to foot a $2 billion bill to keep a smelter open in a country that has some of the world's most abundant natural resources? This also is given the fact that the Labor government is charging carbon tax on this very smelter. Why are we allowing policies to drive up costs to a point where intervention becomes the only option, and how many more industries will find themselves in this same position?

Across regional Australia, manufacturers, processors and producers are all feeling the squeeze. They are grappling with rising energy prices, increased regulatory burdens and uncertainty about the future. In Flynn, the Boyne smelter is not just another industrial facility. It supports local jobs, drives investment and underpins the prosperity of the broader region. When it is under threat, the entire community is under threat. We welcome the continuation of operations until 2040, but we cannot ignore the warning signs that this situation presents. If we continue down the path where energy policy drives up costs, where industries are forced to rely on government bailouts and where long-term competitiveness is eroded, then we will see more announcements like this—not good news stories but last resort measures.

We should be exporting value added products to the world, not exporting jobs and importing uncertainty. We should be backing our own workers, not just with short-term funding but with long-term policy certainty that ensures their industries remain viable for decades to come, and that means getting energy policy right. It means ensuring reliability, affordability and 24/7 power generation—something a renewables only approach simply cannot do—and it means recognising that the regional communities like those in Flynn cannot be an afterthought in the national decision-making process, because when policies are made in capital cities without the regard for their real world impacts, it is regional Australians who bear the consequences, and they deserve more than just bandaid solutions. They deserve a government that understands the importance of industry, that values manufacturing and delivers policy that makes Australia a competitive place to do business.

In closing, Mr Speaker, I would just like to take the opportunity to wish you, my fellow parliamentarians and all of the parliamentary staff are happy and safe Easter