Latest news with #CentreforIndependentStudies'
Sky News AU
10 hours ago
- Business
- Sky News AU
Chris Bowen's energy revolution pushing Australia's heavy industry to the brink with Tomago Aluminium on the verge of collapse
Australia's largest aluminium smelter is on the brink of collapse under the weight of soaring power prices as Energy Minister Chris Bowen continues with his renewables revolution. A report in the Australian Financial Review emerged on Friday that said Rio Tinto-owned Tomago, Australia biggest aluminium producer, is seeking billions of dollars in public funds to avert collapse as energy costs plague local industry. The producer is located north of Newcastle, uses about 10 per cent of NSW's power supply and makes about 37 per cent of Australia's primary aluminium. The collapse of the massive company could lead to more than 1,000 people losing their jobs, while 5,000 indirect workers could suffer. Tomago executives have reportedly asked the NSW and federal governments for assistance amid crippling power prices and as cost-effective and consistent renewables remain largely unavailable. The damning report sparked concern from the Centre for Independent Studies' senior policy analyst Zoe Hilton who said the government's energy policy was crippling the aluminium sector. 'With power prices in Australia rising higher and higher, it simply doesn't make financial sense to run a smelter here,' Ms Hilton told 'Tomago's current predicament is a direct result of state and federal government plans to shift our grid to mostly intermittent energy sources.' Mr Bowen and Labor have vowed to make the nation a 'renewable energy superpower' with an energy mix of 82 per cent renewables by 2030 and green energy driving local manufacturing. The Albanese government is looking to boost this through production tax credits for leading Australian aluminium smelters, including Tomago, and give $2 billion back to help with the energy transition. A federal government source told the AFR it was involved in discussions with Tomago over the details of the tax credit design as it looks to alleviate the impacts of soaring power costs. Rio Tinto's chief executive Jakob Stausholm flagged concerns about the producer's electricity costs earlier this year where he warned power price contracts beyond 2028 would render Tomago unviable. Ms Hilton said this should come as a brutal warning for the government as it strives to dramatically alter the nation's energy mix. 'The federal government has refused to acknowledge that its plan to make our grid run off 82 per cent renewable energy by 2030 is making energy unaffordable for industrial users, not to mention residential and small business consumers,' Ms Hilton said. 'We are following in the footsteps of Germany, which gets almost half of its power from wind and solar. 'Around 40 per cent of German industrial companies are now considering partly or fully relocating operations abroad due to a lack of affordable and reliable energy. Australia has only just reached over 30 per cent wind and solar. 'We don't have European neighbours with nuclear plants from which to import reliable power as Germany does, so our industries will feel the pain of expensive, unreliable power much earlier in the renewables buildout.' Shadow energy minister Dan Tehan said Labor's ambitious renewables plan could result in job losses at Tomago. 'Spare a thought for the workers at Tomago worried about losing their job because high energy prices, as a result of Labor's obsession with renewable energy, is threatening their livelihood,' Mr Tehan told 'These workers will be worried today about paying the bills and putting food on the table if Tomago is closed because of Labor's higher energy costs. 'Every worker and every business owner in Australia will be looking at Tomago and worrying if their business can survive the exorbitant energy costs under Labor's renewables agenda.' Tomago's turmoil comes as the government looks to shift the aluminium industry to renewable energy while maintaining the operations of the major smelters. The producer was historically powered by cheap coal-fired generators but the shift away from fossil fuels has presented challenges regarding both energy security and power prices. Ms Hilton said Australia needs to ditch the renewables plan if the nation wants to keep heavy industry from moving overseas. 'If we want to minimise electricity costs, new coal plants will be the cheapest way to supply our grid,' Ms Hilton said. 'If industry remains committed to reducing emissions, nuclear plants are the only option to provide the necessary 24/7 power at an affordable price, so the bans will need to be lifted.' Tomago CEO Jerome Dozol in November 2024 said the company urgently needed public help to assist with the smelter's energy bills. 'The price of electricity on offer is too expensive for us to keep operating without government intervention,' Mr Dozol said.
Sky News AU
30-05-2025
- Politics
- Sky News AU
Former Labor senator speaks on the failure to recognise sovereign rights of Indigenous peoples
Centre for Independent Studies' Warren Mundine has commented on Indigenous leader Pat Dodson calling for a greater reconciliation towards First Nations people. Mr Dodson discussed closing the gap for Indigenous people. 'We have sovereignty already, we're citizens of this country,' Mr Mundine told Sky News host Danica De Giorgio. 'In fact, we have benefits from the sovereign rights of this country.'
Sky News AU
14-05-2025
- Business
- Sky News AU
Fortescue axes 90 green hydrogen jobs as Centre for Independent Studies' Aidan Morrison slams 'hopelessly impractical' energy source
Australia's largest green hydrogen backer has axed about 90 jobs working on the energy source, sparking criticism there is "no future" for the energy source as it is "hopelessly impractical" as an alternative fuel. Metal mining giant Fortescue, spearheaded by green hydrogen promoter Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest, on Tuesday laid off staff members who worked on hydrogen projects across the nation. The workers at Fortescue's hydrogen unit in Western Australia and its electrolyser facility, where hydrogen is separated from water to produce green energy, in Queensland were offered redundances or redeployment within the company. Fortescue's move sparked criticism from the Centre for Independent Studies' energy director Aidan Morrison who said efforts to prop up the energy source, many which are driven by the Albanese government, were futile. "This is what it looks like to see a concerted effort at consensus-farming slowly getting unwound: paper projects being quietly scrunched up and binned at politically convenient moments,' Mr Morrison told 'Green hydrogen never was a thing. It won't be in the future either. It was built on hopeful hand-waving from the outset. 'It's hopelessly impractical as an alternative fuel. It's extremely difficult to store and move. There's limited demand for hydrogen as a chemical feedstock, which is economically met by methane reformation from coal or gas. 'There's no evidence that demand at the volumes that renewables enthusiasts have been spruiking will emerge and there's no way that wind and solar could meet that demand at a reasonable price if it did." A Fortescue spokesperson said the mining giant was focused on developing a green iron industry in Australia with 'green hydrogen playing a critical part in making it a reality'. 'To ensure we can produce the large amounts of green hydrogen we need to make green iron, we are refocusing our efforts into the research and development of new technologies that will deliver green molecules at scale, efficiently and cost-effectively,' the spokesperson said. 'Fortescue has rapidly advanced its electrolyser technology capabilities. The science has now evolved, and we are moving with it.' It is understood the sackings come as Fortescue is looking to its Gladstone, Queensland, facility - called PEM50 - for the research and development efforts. The recent sackings come after Fortescue revealed 700 redundancies in July 2024 in a sweeping restructure of the company that consolidated its mining and energy arms into one division. Mr Forrest has spent years promoting the benefits of green hydrogen, with the company originally planning on producing 15 million tonnes per year by 2030. Labor's net-zero plans 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. The policy came a year after Labor announced $2b towards its Hydrogen Headstart program, which looked to invest in large scale hydrogen projects.
