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

My question is to the Minister for Industry and Innovation, Senator Ayres. Minister, the Australian Workers' Union said earlier this month:

Between skyrocketing energy prices, cheap dumping and tariff wars, smelters such as Nyrstar and Glencore Mt Isa are up against a wall.

Does the minister agree with the Australian Workers' Union that the skyrocketing energy prices which his government has presided over are risking good union jobs at Australia's manufacturing smelters?

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

Thank you, Senator Canavan. I'm very pleased, I have to say, with what Mr Farrow, as leader of the Australian Workers' Union—his union has very strong membership and has a rich history of collective bargaining and representing that important sector, Australian manufacturing—has had to say about the importance of that sector. And I'm really pleased with the collaborative approach that the labour movement has taken, with Mr Murphy from the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union and Mr Farrow on a unity ticket focused on the issues that matter for that sector and their members. That's a sort of lesson in working-class discipline and focus, and it wouldn't hurt—

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I raise a point of order in relation to relevance. The quote is in relation to skyrocketing energy prices. That's what the AWU has said.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Senator Cash. The minister is being relevant. Minister Ayres.

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

I just say that we welcome Mr Farrow's view, and I welcome the views put forward—particularly in relation to your home state of Queensland, Senator Canavan—by Ms MacRae, the Mayor of Mount Isa, who's been up and about here in Parliament House and on national radio and television, making the case for that important industrial community. I actually welcome people making the case for their communities in a constructive way that is focused on the facts. I've listened to Mr Farrow's view in quite some detail, as you can imagine. There are issues pressing on that sector. They are not all energy related, but some of them are energy-price related. There is a consistent stream of issues here, and I'm looking forward to the next— (Time expired)

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Canavan, I invite you to ask your first supplementary question.

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

Minister, reports this week suggest that the owners of the Mount Isa copper smelter and the Townsville copper refinery have told staff to brace for a pause on production and for potential job losses. The Australian Workers' Union has said:

Many Australian smelters face collapse without urgent intervention from state and federal governments.

Will the federal government heed the AWU's warning and intervene to save copper jobs in North Queensland?

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

I should start this answer by noting the fact that there are workers in Mount Isa this week who are losing their jobs this week in the mining facility. My heart goes out to them. I understand how important those jobs are. Glencore's decision in relation to its copper-mining facilities is having a real impact in that community. The smelting facility is vital in its own right, from an economic and social perspective, and Glencore is making decisions about the future of that facility in terms of its investment there and its strategic decision-making about the future of its whole asset, including its zinc assets. There is absolutely an imperative for clear action and coordination between the Commonwealth and the state governments. I welcome the approach that the Queensland government has taken, and we are working very closely with them as we advance our way through this important— (Time expired)

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Canavan, second supplementary?

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

Minister, the Albanese government came to power promising to lower energy prices, yet now Australian unions are complaining that high energy prices are risking manufacturing jobs. Since your government was elected, electricity prices have risen 10 per cent and gas prices 45 per cent for Australian manufacturers. Will your government lower energy prices for Australian manufacturers in your second term?

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

I am focused on the relationship between energy prices and the future of manufacturing in Australia, absolutely, but a question from Senator Canavan about energy prices really is a bit like the arsonist complaining about how fast the fire brigade arrives, like one of those teenage arsonists with the stopwatch out, worrying about performance of the rural fire service turning up to a bushfire.

Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Point of order on relevance: personal insults to the person who asked the question is not a substitute for an answer.

Sue Lines (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm sure in the spirit of a good chamber and good chamber management, Senator Ayres will (1) withdraw the comment and (2) go back to the question.

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

I withdraw it, and I broaden the observation out to what happened after a decade of mismanagement, disinvestment, policy uncertainty and an absolutely scrambled egg of energy policy mess that has left the Australian energy system and this government with an enormous amount of work to do to recover what has happened to energy and Australian manufacturing over the course of that decade.

Penny Wong (SA, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Foreign Affairs) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

President, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.