Ms ROSOL (Bass) – Deputy Speaker, I want to thank the member for Bass for bringing this motion today. The situation at Bell Bay Aluminium is very serious. It is placing 550 jobs at risk, and we know that it has implications more broadly that will flow on throughout Bass and throughout Tasmania. I believe that most of the members for Bass are in the Chamber as we debate this motion this evening is a reflection of how seriously we all take this situation.
The Greens have been following the major industrial situation in Bass closely and we are aware that both Bell Bay Aluminium and Liberty Bell Bay are facing significant difficulty. This is creating incredible uncertainty for workers in Bass as financial forces and decisions far outside their control play out. Let’s be clear about this motion today and the debate around it. This is a motion that is clearly designed to wedge state Labor around the lack of action from federal Labor when it comes to supporting aluminium production in Tasmania.
I am aware that Labor plan to move amendments today and to me that is game-playing as well. This isn’t really a game, what we’re doing here today. We’re discussing a really serious situation. Political games sell short the workers who rely on Bell Bay Aluminium for employment and the income that they need to live. This isn’t a time for wedges; it’s not a time for games. Real people’s lives are being impacted.
Political games aside, the Greens have looked carefully at this motion and we will be supporting it, recognising the importance of Bell Bay Aluminium, recognising that it is critical that industry transitions to clean energy for our future, and recognising the role that the Australian government does have in helping to maintain the viability of Bell Bay Aluminium in the face of significant global pressures. We will support this motion, but we want to note some aspects of it in the wording.
In relation to clause (1)(a), the motion states that Bell Bay Aluminium is Tasmania’s only aluminium smelter powered entirely by renewable energy. While renewable energy does form the backbone of Tasmania’s electricity supply, it’s well known that we import power from the mainland and that power is polluting and coal-fired. We also have to use fossil fuels in the form of gas.
Clause (1)(b) possibly over eggs the government’s work, but I will come back to that later in some of the wording there.
In clause (1)(c), it’s been interesting to watch the Australian Government’s actions around major industrials across this country. They have indeed offered support to mainland smelters. They have stepped in and placed Whyalla Steelworks into administration – a different situation to that faced by Bell Bay Aluminium, but it is notable the support that has been offered to industries in other states while Tasmania has not received similar offers of support.
It remains unclear if Bell Bay Aluminium will be able to access assistance through the Green Aluminium Production Credit Scheme. The Greens would posit that it should be able to. As I noted earlier, Tasmania has a reputation for being solely powered by renewable energy. However, that reputation is not reflective of reality. Transition is important in Tasmania, too.
More than important, transitioning to renewable energy is critical. We are in a climate crisis. Carbon emissions continuing to increase and carbon dioxide in the atmosphere continues to go up and up. We have already smashed through a global average temperature increase of 1.5°Celsius and we are on track to reach 3°Celsius of warming. The implications of this are significant. Life on our planet is under threat, and we need to decarbonise energy production, so access to the Green Aluminium Production Credit Scheme is crucial and has huge implications for our future.
Bell Bay Aluminium needs to and should have access to this scheme, and the sooner the federal government formally confirms this, the better it will be for both climate action as well as for this industry’s certainty.
Moving on to Clause 1D, Mr Ferguson in his motion states that Hydro Tasmania has engaged in good faith negotiations. The Greens don’t know this for sure. We only have the government’s word to go on here, but we haven’t been provided with evidence that negotiations have not been conducted in good faith. We would be interested in further details of these negotiations.
In relation to clause (1)(e), I want to comment on the motion’s reference to repeated requests since the start of 2025 for assurances about Bell Bay from the Australian Government.
In March, when the federal and state government in South Australia stepped in and placed the Whyalla Steelworks into administration, we wrote to the Premier and asked what the Tasmanian government were doing in response to this situation and how they were working for workers in Bass to protect their future at Liberty Bell Bay. We received no response to our letter.
I know that Liberty Bell Bay is not Bell Bay Aluminium. They’re two different corporations running two different heavy industrial facilities in the Tamar Valley. However, when we asked the government what they were doing to support workers at Liberty Bell Bay we received no response. It was only later in the year that the Rockliff government stepped in with public support.
We aren’t sure what repeated requests the Liberal government may have made to the Australian government about Bell Bay Aluminium since the start of the year. We would be very interested to hear more about what the government has done. The Greens are yet to hear that the Australian government will treat Bell Bay Aluminium equitably and we would welcome information about that. Perhaps Ms Finlay may have some insight into the Australian Government and their approach to this. We all agree that maintaining Bell Bay Aluminium in its use with renewable energy is in the state’s interests, the national interests and ultimately our whole planetary future’s interest.
In relation to clause (3), it’s appropriate to call on the Australian government to do what they can to provide certainty to workers in Bass by confirming that Bell Bay Aluminium is entitled to access the Green Aluminium Production Credit Scheme for all the reasons I outlined above.
How good would it be if the Tasmanian government and the Australian government did work together on this instead of throwing accusations back and forth, blaming each other and calling on the other government to do more rather than working together? Tasmanian jobs and our climate and future are at stake, and the Greens hope the Australian Government will step up and do what they can through the Green Aluminium Production Credit Scheme to support Bell Bay Aluminium.
As I said earlier, we will be supporting this motion, recognising that there are some aspects of it we have questions about, but we support the spirit of this because this is an important industry; it’s important to jobs in Bass and we believe that the Australian government should be doing more in this situation.
