BY JESSICA ROUSE

Paterson MP Meryl Swanson was joined by Shadow Minister for Climate Change and Energy Mark Butler yesterday for a visit to the Tomago Aluminium Smelter and a discussion about the need for a reliable energy policy in the Hunter and throughout Australia.

The Minister was able to see firsthand the fallout at Tomago when there is no reliable energy policy in place.

The visit to Tomago was an opportunity to meet with chief executive Matt Howell and hear the challenges facing the site since heatwave conditions forced the smelter to curtail production back in February this year.

Mark Butler agrees with the Paterson MP that a reliable and cost-effective energy supply is vital for manufacturers, like Tomago Aluminium

“I’ve been talking to manufacturers in this part of Australia and in the Hunter Valley which has been really valuable particularly Tomago Aluminium which is an exceptional piece of economic infrastructure for the country, not just for the Hunter Valley – it employs hundreds and hundreds of locals but is also a wonderful exporter and earner of overseas dollars for Australia as well,” said Mark Butler.

With coal on its way out in Newcastle, and gas increasingly more expensive, the option to make gas available as an alternative in Newcastle is moving further away from being a possible solution.
Mark Butler says it’s hard to see gas becoming affordable for new power generation unless gas prices go down.

“Now the Prime Minister has assured Australian businesses and households that gas prices will be halved because of the government’s intervention that should take effect in July this year and we’ll be holding him to that because if we don’t get those sorts of reductions in gas prices we are going to see manufacturing jobs across the country in their tens of thousands lost.”