QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE
Mr CONROY (Shortland—Minister for Pacific Island Affairs and Minister for Defence Industry) (14:27): I thank the member for Hunter for his question and his staunch advocacy for the region, alongside the member for Newcastle and the member for Paterson. This is a great day for the Hunter—one of the greatest since the 1997 Grand Final. Last year, I stood in the rain with the Prime Minister when he told the workers of Tomago, 'We have your back.' And now we've delivered, with the announcement of a joint package with New South Wales.
It will keep the smelter open, it will advance the Hunter's clean energy transition and it means we keep a strategically important asset for the whole country. It will secure more than 1,000 direct jobs and 5,000 additional jobs across the Hunter. Tomago has been operating continuously, 24 hours a day, since 1983, and it's Hunter workers who have kept it going every day and every night.
I'm so proud to be part of a government who is delivering for these workers—the most pro manufacturing government in the history of this country, led by this prime minister. Make no mistake: this is a great day for the Hunter. It's an investment in the future of the region, supporting jobs and the Hunter economy and providing certainty to workers like Matt and his wife, who spoke to the PM and me about how this today's announcement has given him confidence after buying a house in Raymond Terrace.
It's also a great day for Australia, because we're one of the handful of countries with an end-to-end aluminium supply chain—from bauxite mining to alumina refining to aluminium smelting—and successive global shocks have demonstrated why it's so important to make things here. Importantly, Tomago Aluminium is also investing $1.1 billion in this facility. This is truly a future made in Australia in action, strengthening our energy security, supporting Aussie industry and delivering Australian jobs.
Rio Tinto has been clear that these investments are needed, because coal power was too expensive to keep Tomago open and because of ageing coal-fired power and underinvestment in the energy system under those opposite. I'm asked about other approaches. The approach of those opposite was to close Tomago down.
That was part of the now Leader of the Opposition's election costings. That was on top of bullying the car industry to leave. That was on top of 23 failed energy policies when in government.
That was on top of voting against price caps on gas. Only one side of the House can be trusted to support Aussie manufacturing, and it is this Labor government under this Labor Prime Minister.