Newcastle Herald Article: Why nuclear doesn't stack up for local manufacturing

This year, Australians face a stark choice: a future with affordable energy and thriving industries or one of skyrocketing energy bills and vanishing manufacturing jobs.

Peter Dutton's nuclear energy proposal will not only force families and businesses to pay more for their power bills, it assumes that major industrial sites, such as Tomago aluminium smelter, will close. To add insult to injury, Dutton has not had the guts to tell workers what nuclear power really means for their livelihoods and economic prospects. Much of the debate about Dutton's nuclear energy policy has rightly focused on how expensive it will be for Australian families.

The Institute for Energy Economics and Financial Analysis estimates that if Dutton were elected, power bills would soar by as much as $1200 a year. The energy experts at the CSIRO have repeatedly confirmed that nuclear power is Australia's most expensive electricity option.

When Shadow Energy Minister Ted O'Brien complained about their results, they re-ran their models with his preferred assumptions. Their findings did not change- nuclear power remains the most expensive option. The evidence is in: nuclear power costs too much and takes too long.

But what Dutton has hidden fromworking people in industrial heartlands such as the Hunter, is his nuclear plan relies on large industrial sites closing. Dutton needs good blue-collar jobs to go for his nuclear plan
to work.

The Coalition's proposal is built on the Australian Energy Market Operator's Progressive Change Scenario, which requires large industrial load electricity use to fall from 46TWh this financial year to 23TWh by the end of 2030.This is a huge fall. It's roughly the same as the total amount of electricity used by both Tasmania and SA each year.

The aluminium industry is the largest industrial user of electricity, and the Tomago smelter alone uses 12 per cent of all electricity in NSW. Dutton needs places like Tomago to shut down by 2030 to get his 23TWh fall in
industrial electricity. Australia's aluminium industry will be first in the firing line.

The betrayal of hard-working Australians is gobsmacking and shameful. I have seen what shutdowns do to people and the deep scars left in communities when an industry collapses. When the previous state Liberal government offshored Hunter's train manufacturing, thousands of blue-collar workers lost their jobs, and school leavers lost opportunities for apprenticeships.

People expect to have a say in political decisions that affect their lives. For Dutton to try to sneak this
through releasing his costings before Christmas to avoid scrutiny goes against the grain of a fair go.

I'm sure Dutton will have an excuse. He'll say something like the Progressive Change Scenario does not specify exactly which large industrial sites will close. He needs to make clear which industries will disappear, and he needs to do that now.

Will it be all Australian steelmaking, plus glass and paper manufacturing? Or will it be all chemicals manufacturing and refining businesses?

The Albanese government has a different vision: a Future Made in Australia. Our vision isn't to destroy the industry but to uplift it. Our plan supports local manufacturing, creates good jobs, and secures our energy
future. We're investing in renewable energy infrastructure, providing tax incentives for local manufacturing, and delivering smart industrial policies to strengthen regional economies.

With a Future Made in Australia, we are building a more resilient, prosperous nation, where hardworking Australians can rely on secure jobs and affordable energy. Where regions such as the Hunter continue
to be central to Australia's economic success.

With the right policies, Australia will lead the world in high-tech manufacturing, renewable energy technology, and advanced industries, creating thousands of high-skilled jobs across regional communities.

In 2025, Australians will face two choices: Dutton's plan for a poorer, weaker economy with fewer jobs, more expensive energy, and a decimated manufacturing sector, or the Albanese government's Future Made in Australia agenda, which builds jobs and opportunity in engineering and production, and strengthens regional economies.

Senator Tim Ayres is the Assistant Minister for a Future Made in Australia, and the Assistant Minister for Trade