STATEMENTS BY SENATORS

Senator McDONALD (Queensland—Deputy Leader of the Nationals in the Senate) (13:36): Labor promised Australians a future made in Australia. Instead, it's a future subsidised by Australia. Workers at Whyalla were promised they would have a green hydrogen supported future.

Instead, they've all lost their jobs. The Albanese government has created the conditions that have ended these jobs. In Whyalla, the blast furnace has been shut down.

Australia, the world's largest exporter of iron ore and one of the world's great exporters of met coal, has lost the blast furnace that produced most of our structural steel. The Liberty Bell Bay magnesium smelter has shut its doors. BHP's Nickel West operations remain suspended.

Nyrstar's lead and zinc smelters have required hundreds of millions of dollars in government support. Aluminium smelters at Tomago and Boyne Island needed more than $4 billion in government funds to keep going. The Mount Isa copper smelter is surviving with a $600 million grant.

The coalition doesn't want Australia de-industrialised. We want Australian jobs to remain in Australia. Labor refuses to accept reality.

You cannot make energy more expensive, impose additional taxes under the safeguards mechanism, delay development of resources and create hostile workplace laws and then expect Australian industries to survive. The coalition is introducing legislation to restore fast-track approval pathways for energy projects of critical sovereign and national significance. The coalition doesn't want Australian smelters surviving on bailouts.

We want them expanding, employing more Australians and competing with the world. That's what a real future Australia looks like, and it's a philosophy the coalition will hold in government. The fight for Australia is on, and the coalition is up for that fight.

We will put Australians first, unleash our full energy potential, scrap net zero, lower taxes and allow our nation's industries to get on with the job.