STATEMENTS BY MEMBERS

Mr RICK WILSON (O'Connor) (13:39): O'Connor's nickel workers have every right to ask why jobs in the Hunter Valley are treated as a national priority while jobs in the Goldfields are left to the mercy of the market. This Labor government has committed $2.5 billion to keep the Tomago aluminium smelter operating. Over the decade from 2028, that equates to around $250,000 every year, per job, in taxpayer support.

The Prime Minister says the intervention is justified because manufacturing capability, supply chains and industrial jobs are in the national interest. If that's true for the Hunter, why isn't it true for the Goldfields? In 2024, when nickel operations closed and 3,000 workers lost their jobs, Goldfields communities were told to wait for market conditions to improve.

Now we're seeing a growing list of taxpayer-funded rescues: Tomago, Boyne, Whyalla, Mount Isa and Nyrstar. The question is, why are so many strategic industries needing bailouts in the first place? Rising costs and Labor's Safeguard Mechanism are eroding Australia's competitiveness and undermining industries that should be our economic strength.

When energy costs rise, productivity falls, investment leaves and jobs disappear. Under Labor's carbon crusade, more Australian industries are being brought to their knees. Unless we restore our competitiveness, lower energy costs and back the industries that create wealth, this bailout will not be the last.