Tammy Tyrrell (Tasmania, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Industry and Innovation—

Hon. Senators:

Honourable senators interjecting—

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

Sorry, Senator Tyrrell. Please resume your seat. Once again I remind the chamber that I've asked for silence. If you can't be silent in this chamber, please take up my invitation and leave.

Tammy Tyrrell (Tasmania, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This is for Minister Ayres. The Tasmanian Bell Bay aluminium smelter is at risk of closure by the end of the year. The smelter is a cornerstone of Tasmania's economy, employing over 600 people and supporting hundreds more through a supply chain of almost 300 local businesses, helping communities like George Town, west Tamar and Launceston. Not only that but it is also the only renewables powered smelter in the country. I wrote to you on 16 October, asking you to work with the Tas government to keep Bell Bay open. Consistent with your Future Made in Australia agenda, you must ensure sovereign metals manufacturing remains in Australia's future. If your government is so committed to sovereign manufacturing, will you stand up today and commit to funding to keep Bell Bay aluminium smelter open?

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

Thank you, Senator Tyrrell, for that question. It is an important question. I can confirm that this government and I are working very closely with the government of Tasmania. There are negotiations going on between Hydro Tasmania—the state government owned electricity provider in Tasmania—and the owners of that facility. I am very focused on making sure that those negotiations conclude with the best possible result.

It is absolutely my preference and the government's preference that—where these aluminium facilities have been established around the country, largely they have been there because there is a state owned electricity generator, apart from those states now where they've been privatised and the aluminium smelter owner is facing a private market. In Tasmania, there is a publicly owned facility. It's a proud Tasmanian asset. I've been engaged with the state government at all levels. My department has been engaged at an official level. I want to see proper accountability about that process. I've spoken to the Premier of Tasmania and the relevant ministers. I think I've even had a couple of chats with some of my colleagues on the other side here who've expressed an interest, and they should. I'm very open about that process. It's an important facility in the Tasmanian economy, as is the adjoining Liberty Bell Bay manganese smelter.

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

Senator Tyrrell, first supplementary?

Tammy Tyrrell (Tasmania, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The federal government has already intervened in other industrial closures on the mainland, including South Australia's Whyalla steelworks, Queensland's Mount Isa copper smelter and New South Wales's Tomago aluminium smelter. Do you treat Tasmanian metal manufacturers—oh lord, oh lord, oh lord!—differently to mainland smelters? Yes, it's long!

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

Yes, we will pay exactly the same amount of attention, exactly the same detail, to the facilities in Tasmania as on the mainland.

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

Senator Tyrrell, second supplementary?

Tammy Tyrrell (Tasmania, Independent) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, President. I promise I won't stutter this time. If you treat Tasmanian smelters the same as mainland smelters, you are running out of time and deliberately putting Tasmanian jobs at risk. As a party meant to support the workers, you are choosing to toy with their job security. Why won't you support Australian jobs and, today, commit to helping the nation's only renewable powered smelter?

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

We'll approach this in a very disciplined way, in the Tasmanian interest and in the national interest.