Matthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Thank you, Madam President. I'm glad I inspire such a reaction. My question is to the Minister for Industry and Innovation, Senator Ayres. There were reports this morning that the Tomago aluminium smelter, which supports around a thousand jobs in your home state of New South Wales, is looking at potential closure. Tomago CEO, Jerome Dozol, laid the blame on energy costs, saying, 'Unfortunately all market proposals received so far show future energy prices are not commercially viable …' The government says that renewable energy is cheaper and it says that it is building lots of renewables for the future. If that is the case, why can't Tomago get an energy price in the future that is affordable?