Tim Ayres (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Industry and Innovation) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Ghosh, you're right. Rio was clear that the coal power from Bayswater would be too expensive after 2028, and Rio curtailed production at Boyne Island in 2017 because the electricity from the Gladstone coal power plant was too expensive. Why were these smelters forced to go to ageing coal plants for power? It was because of the previous government's supreme incompetence. Its lack of diligence and its lack of capacity to be able to deliver more than one puny gigawatt in the national interest meant that we had a decade-long investment drought. Disinvestment has a consequence for real people. To quote a letter from the Newcastle Herald today: 'Energy uncertainty is hurting industry. Tomago's situation should prompt urgent investment in clean, reliable and affordable energy.' (Time expired)