‘Hand it back': Albanese Government tells Fortescue to repay hydrogen grant for dumped Gladstone project
The Andrew Forrest-controlled miner on Thursday revealed it would dump green hydrogen projects in Australia and the US as it struggles to find a commercial pathway to full-scale production of the clean fuel, which is produced by the electrolysis of water via renewable energy sources.
In its quarterly update, Fortescue said its Arizona hydrogen project in the US and the PEM50 project in Queensland's Gladstone had been canned and an assessment was under way to re-purpose the assets and the land.
The news has raised eyebrows in Canberra, and the Labor Government has signalled its intention to reclaim any taxpayer money that went towards development of the Queensland project.
A spokeswoman for Industry and Innovation Minister Tim Ayres told
The Australian
that the Government believed it would be appropriate for Fortescue to hand back funds it received under the Modern Manufacturing Initiative.
'The decision not to proceed the PEM50 Hydrogen plant in Gladstone is a commercial matter for Fortescue,' the spokeswoman told the newspaper.
'However, if Fortescue does not proceed with the delivery of the MMI-funded Gladstone Electrolyser facility project it would be reasonable for the government to seek reimbursement for where the grant agreement hasn't been fulfilled.'
Fortescue said it was in talks with the Federal and Queensland governments over the future use of the land.
'As these are confidential discussions, it would be inappropriate to disclose details,' a spokesman told The Australian.
Fortescue expects to book a $US150m ($227m) writedown after binning the two projects.
The West Australian in May revealed
the $US150m Gladstone electrolyser manufacturing plant was in serious doubt after 90 workers were laid off across the site and Fortescue's Perth headquarters. Mark Hutchinson quit as Fortescue's green energy boss less than two weeks later.
These job cuts were the latest leg of a huge cull across the company's sprawling green hydrogen team that started in July last year.
Fortescue in February said the re-election of Donald Trump jeopardised its $US550 million green hydrogen project in the western US state of Arizona.
It was earmarked for generous grants under the Biden administration but President Trump's team appear to have poured cold water on those taxpayer funding hopes.
Hashtags
Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles
Sky News AU
2 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Labor's 'dead horse' green hydrogen gamble slammed by energy expert Jude Blik as the govt urges Fortescue to repay funds
Labor's 'attempt to appear fiscally prudent' by urging Fortescue to repay handouts for a failed green hydrogen plant has come under fire, as the Albanese government continues to 'bet our future' on the fuel which has been labelled a 'dead horse'. Industry and Innovation Minister Tim Ayres has urged the energy and mining giant to reimburse the government for the millions of dollars it gave Fortescue for the defunct Gladstone plant. The Queensland operation received about $60m in federal and state government support and was canned about 12 months after it opened. The recent shift is a blow to Labor's net-zero plans, which include a Hydrogen Production Tax Incentive as part of its Future Made in Australia Act. More than $6.5 billion will go toward the scheme, which provides $2 per kilogram of renewable hydrogen produced between 2027-28 and 2039-40. Centre for Independent Studies energy analyst Jude Blik said the latest failure was 'no surprise given green hydrogen was never feasible'. 'Green hydrogen is the panacea that Australia's Net Zero hopes and dreams have been pinned on,' Mr Bilk told 'Yet it has never been economic – even for the most basic use cases in chemical manufacturing, let alone for hare-brained green energy export schemes. 'Labor's attempt to appear fiscally prudent in recovering funds is odd given they are still throwing good money after bad with billions still committed to green hydrogen projects. 'Green hydrogen is a dead horse - yet the government continues to bet our future on it.' He said that Fortescue, in principle, should return the taxpayer funds as the funds 'should be used to deliver public benefit'. However, Mr Blik acknowledged that it was not clear whether Fortescue should repay the funds without knowing the terms of the grant. A Fortescue spokeswoman said the company has been 'upfront with the government and will return funds where required under the grant agreement". Creating green hydrogen has proved extremely difficult for local industry despite massive government subsidies. Mr Blik said analysis from the CIS showed a 'realistic price' of green hydrogen was $10/kg – well above the $2/kg price for hydrogen from natural gas. 'This means that for any project to be successful it will either need to find a buyer at $10/kg, or achieve subsidies of $8/kg – both of which are completely unrealistic,' he said. 'The notion that there is a 'technology curve' that we need to be ahead of is naively optimistic, which would be forgivable if we weren't betting our nation's future on it.' The failure of the Gladstone project, alongside another US plant in Arizona, will blow a US$150m ($227m) hole in Fortescue's financial results. On the US project's failure, Fortescue chief executive of growth and energy Gus Pichot told analysts the shift away from green energy under US President Donald Trump hurt the project's viability. 'A shift in policy priorities away from green energy has changed the situation in the US,' Mr Pichot said. 'The lack of certainty and a step back in green ambition has stopped the emerging green energy markets, making it hard for previously feasible projects to proceed. 'As a result, we cannot proceed with our investments as they stand, and will explore future opportunities for our site in Arizona.'
ABC News
2 hours ago
- ABC News
Cheaper medicines and HECS top parliamentary agenda as tax debate ramps up
The Albanese government will try to keep attention on its election promises as the new federal parliament returns for its second week, but will face further scrutiny about what new policies it plans to unveil at next month's economic roundtable. Labor will introduce legislation to cut the price of PBS medicines to $25 and will also seek to pass the HECS loan cuts introduced last week in what Anthony Albanese said was a deliberate prioritisation of cost-of-living measures. "What we've done very clearly in the first fortnight is concentrate on measures that make a difference to people's money in their pocket. We make no apology for that … That was the basis on which we were elected," he told the ABC's Insiders on Sunday. The $25-per-script price would start in the new year and reduce annual user costs by an estimated $200 million. The $7.70 script price for pension and concession card holders, frozen until 2030, would be unchanged. The policy was matched by the Coalition during the election campaign, so it is unlikely to be controversial, with the opposition also signalling it will likely support the HECS cuts. But there is no timeline for Labor to re-introduce its stalled proposal to double the earnings tax on superannuation balances for those with balances over $3 million, controversial because it would include the "unrealised" earnings of assets. Mr Albanese on Sunday dismissed the Treasury's advice that taxes would need to be raised to fix the budget, reported by the ABC earlier this month, and including an option identified by the department to "build on" the super tax. "Treasury, of course, will put forward advice to government from time to time. That's not government policy … Our starting point is the positions that we took to the election." But the government will face fresh questions this week about its plans to go beyond its election platform in the August roundtable led by Treasurer Jim Chalmers, who has already declared openness to tax changes as part of a reform package. Unions, business groups, and economists are already jostling to propose ideas for the three-day discussion forum to be held in late August before the next parliamentary sitting, where Mr Chalmers and Mr Albanese say they are open to any ideas. The Business Council (BCA) has this week revealed one of its main proposals, to increase the generosity of the tax credit for research and development spending, with the greatest concessions for Australian research commercialised in Australia. In a joint report with Australian companies Atlassian and Cochlear, who are among the biggest users of the tax credit with a combined $316 million spend in the most recent year of data, the BCA has called for an 18.5 per cent flat-rate incentive. "Empowering businesses to make research and development investments is critical to making our economy more productive and innovative, and for delivering greater prosperity for all Australians," the lobby's chief executive, Bran Black, said. "If we don't act now, then we will keep losing innovators, capital, and ideas to other nations." Support for lower company taxes, which appeared to be echoed in Treasury advice, was also on display at a pre-roundtable roundtable convened last Friday by independent MP Allegra Spender. Former treasury secretary Ken Henry and ANU tax professor Bob Breunig, both of whom will attend Mr Chalmers's roundtable, told the forum that company taxes should be reconsidered to tax rents such as mining income more, but entrepreneurship less. Mr Breunig, a noted sceptic of tax incentives for research and development who has argued there is little evidence they spur on research that would not have occurred otherwise, instead proposed a tax deduction for investing in businesses. "If you invest in a company and you make a modest rate of return … that return would be tax-free … Kind of like a tax-free threshold for corporations," he suggested. The forum saw dozens of tax and budget proposals raised, with general agreement that budget sustainability would require some combination of spending cuts, higher taxes, and policies to support economic growth, consistent with Treasury advice. Suggested targets for raising taxes included the petroleum resources rent tax, further changes to super tax concessions, higher capital gains tax, and increasing the GST, although the treasurer and PM have appeared reluctant to consider that move. On the spending side, Michael Brennan of the e61 Institute identified what he called a "capital binge" on infrastructure projects, including at the state level. "There's a lot of value destruction going on in these mega-projects where the benefits are nothing like the value of the cash being [spent]," Mr Brennan said. Participants agreed the government should consider a large package doing multiple things at once, a "grand bargain" rather than "piecemeal" reform. "Tax reform cannot be done piecemeal," Mr Henry said. "This is the lesson that I take from Australia's tax reform adventures of the last 40 years. If it's going to be successful, it's going to have to be big." While Mr Chalmers has embraced suggestions he could pursue ambitious changes, Mr Albanese has seemed more reticent and on Sunday again emphasised the roundtable's focus on economic growth rather than tax changes, branding it a "productivity summit". "[It] is about how do we get that economic growth in the future? And what the productivity summit is about is identifying ways, including [industry investment program] Future Made in Australia. "How do we fix housing? How do we fix these issues in a way that is fiscally responsible?" The Coalition has sent early signals that it would likely oppose any tax reform package that increased the overall tax take, but is likely to be distracted again this week by internal disagreement about net zero. The WA Liberal Party's state council passed a motion calling to drop the net zero by 2050 target, effectively backed in the aftermath by the two most prominent federal frontbenchers from the state, conservatives Andrew Hastie and Michaelia Cash. "We recommitted to emissions reduction, but we will not do that like Mr Albanese legislating a net zero target by 2050," Senator Cash told Sky News on Sunday. "Let's be honest here, the WA Liberal Party have been very, very clear we will not crash the economy in doing so … And we will make sure we do not impose any unnecessary costs on them."
Perth Now
3 hours ago
- Perth Now
Major step towards cutting maximum medicine cost to $25
Australians will pay no more than $25 for selected medicines for the first time in more than 20 years under a proposal to be brought before parliament. It will be the second cap on medicines on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) introduced by the Albanese government in three years, after it cut the maximum price of PBS prescriptions from $42.50 to $30. "The size of your bank balance shouldn't determine the quality of your health care," Prime Minister Anthony Albanese said. "My government will continue to deliver cost-of-living relief for all Australians." PBS medicines would be capped at $7.70 for pensioners and credit card holders until 2030. The bill's introduction is largely a formality, with its passage through the lower house all but assured thanks to Labor's massive 94-seat majority in the 150-seat House of Representatives. The election promise is the Albanese government's next priority after it introduced childcare safety and HECS debt reduction legislation. Federal Labor has been talking up plans to strengthen the PBS amid concerns the scheme will be targeted as a bargaining chip in US trade negotiations to ward off threatened pharmaceutical tariffs. Mr Albanese has repeatedly said the scheme was not up for negotiation. Australia eased its biosecurity restrictions on US beef imports last week, but the prime minister has denied the move was linked to US trade talks, noting it followed a 10-year review of Australian biosecurity rules. Beyond new legislation, conflict in the Middle East will likely prompt fierce debate on the parliamentary floor after Mr Albanese said Israel had breached international law by blocking the flow of food aid into Gaza. "Quite clearly, it is a breach of international law to stop food being delivered, which was a decision that Israel made in March," Mr Albanese said on ABC's Insiders program on Sunday. He stopped short of saying Australia would join France in recognising a Palestinian state, but said his government would decide at "an appropriate time". "Hamas can have no role in a future state," he said. "Hamas are a terrorist organisation who I find, their actions are abhorrent." Opposition foreign affairs spokeswoman Michaelia Cash said Mr Albanese failed to adequately condemn the role of the group in the ongoing conflict. The government is also likely to come under pressure regarding transparency when parliament resumes, after a Centre for Public Integrity probe revealed only a quarter of freedom of information request responses returned by the government in 2023-24 were un-redacted. By comparison, the Morrison government returned almost half of its FOI requests as complete documents in 2021-22.
