The cost to taxpayers of the Anthony Albanese’s approach to ‘net zero’ energy is climbing at a rapid rate, Member for Mallee Dr Anne Webster said, after it was revealed on Friday that Federal Labor committed to an uncosted subsidy of Rio Tinto’s electricity bill for a decade to save 1000 jobs at a NSW Hunter Valley aluminium smelter.
Dr Webster said she dreaded the imminent mid-year budget update (MYEFO) that is likely to show program blowouts and broken promises galore.
“Australians are not getting the ‘future made in Australia’ they bargained for, with the Australian newspaper estimating the jobs created are costing more than $1 million per job,” Dr Webster said.
The Australian newspaper revealed 850 jobs are projected to be created from the first $1.02bn invested by the National Reconstruction Fund.
Meanwhile, the Albanese Government recently revealed its tax discount for electric vehicles will surge 15 times higher than the initial cost estimates to $1.35bn this financial year.
The Cheaper Home Batteries Program cost has also blown out for an initially budgeted $2.3 billion to 2030, tripling an extra $4.9 billion to $7.2 billion over the next four years.
On Friday the Prime Minister and Industry Minister Tim Ayres unveiled an in-principle commitment with the NSW government and the multinational company to provide the smelter with discounted energy, likely through the Snowy Hydro scheme.
Dr Webster ridiculed the claim by Industry Minister Tim Ayres that subsidising Rio Tinto’s energy bill for a decade “puts a stake through the heart of the argument” that the shift to renewables was making manufacturing unsustainable.
“This is a farce – how can you say renewables are not hurting manufacturing, when it takes subsidies to keep these jobs in Australia?” Dr Webster said.
