FEDERAL Opposition leader Anthony Albanese went to the Kurri Kurri childcare centre that Paterson MP Meryl Swanson attended as a toddler, and toured the Tomago Aluminium smelter yesterday in a Hunter visit to reinforce his party's "working class" credentials, after exiled Hunter MP Joel Fitzgibbon said the party was losing touch with its base.
Mr Fitzgibbon has acknowledged the popularity of One Nation in his electorate, and the party's state president, Neil Turner, made its presence felt outsider the smelter yesterday with an orange One Nation tent and posters of its NSW upper house member, Mark Latham.
Mr Albanese declined to be drawn on the details of Mr Fitzgibbon's exit from the front bench, and said he welcomed him staying in parliament "for as long as he wants to".
"He's part of the class of '96," Mr Albanese said.
"We're down to two. Me and him. So, it's a quality pairing, but it's not big in number. So, that's a matter for Joel to make those decisions."
Mr Albanese's visit proved timely in terms of energy policy, after Tomago Aluminium chief executive Matt Howell confirmed the smelter had gone off line for three hours during the heat of Monday afternoon, after a request from its supplier AGL.
Mr Howell said the heat and problems with an interstate interconnector had led the market operator to forecast a possible power shortage.
He said wholesale electricity prices had hit their capped peak of $15,000 a megawatt-hour - the smelter is understood to pay less than $50 a megawatt hour under its long-term contract with AGL - and so the smelter went off line voluntarily, shutting each of its three potlines for an hour each at different times during the afternoon and evening.
Mr Howell said Tomago's power problems were so bad that management had formed a "crisis group" to plan for such contingencies.
He said planning for Monday had begun the week before when the heatwave was first predicted.
Stressing what he had been saying for much of his seven years in charge at the smelter, Mr Howell said Australian power prices needed to come down, and the system needed to maintain reliability if heavy industry was to survive.
Both Mr Howell and Mr Albanese stressed the importance of gas-fired power stations if coal is to be phased out.
Mr Albanese declined to comment directly on the Morrison government's plans for a gas turbine at Kurri Kurri if the private sector could not build enough new capacity quickly to replace Liddell's capacity when it closes.
Mr Albanese said Labor's pledge of zero net emissions by 2050 was "not a radical policy".
Australian business lobbies, the incoming US administration, Japan, Korea, Europe and New Zealand had the same pledge, with China opting for 2060.
"This is a policy that has support from industry, whether it be manufacturing, whether the large businesses in the Business Council of Australia, whether it be the banking sector, Qantas, whether it be agricultural businesses, as well as every state and territory government in the country has this policy," Mr Albanese said.
"Everyone except for Scott Morrison."
Federal Resources, Water and Northern Australia Minister Keith Pitt resumed his industrial tour of the region yesterday, visiting Port Waratah Coal Services and the University of Newcastle.
Mr Pitt said as he was leaving yesterday afternoon that it was intriguing to see that Mr Fitzgibbon was on holidays while his leader was in the Hunter.
"I'm pretty sure the opposition leader would be lost in the Hunter without his tour guide," Mr Pitt said.
In reality, Mr Albanese had Ms Swanson to introduce him to the locals.
She said she had convinced Mr Albanese to come to the Hunter last month, when he visited Varley, and she said she was "onto him again" before yesterday's visit.
Asked how he would "rebuild trust" with the workers Mr Fitzgibbon had referred to as being ignored by Labor, Mr Albanese said: "Well, I'm very confident that we will do well in the regions."
He said the jobs at Tomago Aluminium were "safe".
"This is a company that's doing well," Mr Albanese said.
"And we need to make sure that government policy ensures that these jobs are secure into the future. We've had really constructive discussions today. The replacement of Liddell needs to be a mix of solar renewables with batteries, but also gas is necessary for that."
He went on to say that "climate change is real".
"It will have an impact on our economy. We need to act, and we need to be a part of global action. We need to, as well, though, make sure that businesses like this one, that are energy intensive, have access to affordable energy and reliable energy. We need to do that. And that's why gas will play an important role here."
Ms Swanson said at Tomago that although Labor under Mr Albanese was the only party that looked after workers, Mr Fitzgibbon had been "spot on" in his assessment of things last week.
Asked what "spot on" meant, Ms Swanson said: "We can get to net zero emissions by 2050, but you have to remember that is 'net' zero emissions [as opposed to zero emissions].
"If we want to continue to make things here in Australia, we need to have reliable, affordable energy."
In an interview with the Newcastle Herald yesterday, Mr Howell said he had been looking at the NSW Coalition's Electrical Infrastructure Roadmap in detail.
He said there was no problem with hydro electricity as a technology, but there was a long way to go to see if the government's proposed network of paired "off river" dams would work on a continent known for its droughts.
Even if it did work, the lead times for pumped hydro - which the Roadmap report puts at eight years at least - meant there needed to be power reliablity in the meantime if Liddell was wound down and closed between 2022 and 2023.
That meant gas-fired generators were likely to play a major role.
As well as the Kurri plant that the Morrison government has said it will build if needed, AGL has had long-held plans for a gas-fired power station in the Tomago area, close to the smelter.
There is a view that there is insufficient capacity in the Newcastle/Sydney gas pipeline to feed a Tomago station, and the Kurri plans - as the Herald understands them - were built around gas to come from the proposed Queensland to the Hunter pipeline.
But Mr Howell pointed yesterday to the gas import terminal at Port Kembla being pushed by Western Australian iron ore billionaire Andrew "Twiggy" Forrest of Fortesque Metals fame.
As well as plans for a $250 million "floating" terminal through one of his companies, Squadron Energy, Mr Howell pointed to reports that Squadron was also looking to build a gas-fired power station in the Illawarra, and that it was working with the federal government through its Underwriting New Generation Investment (UNGI) program.
The UNGI website says the government has assessed 66 applications and drawn up a shortlist of six pumped hydro projects, five gas projects and one coal-fired power station upgrade.
IN THE NEWS:
- Record infrastructure spending to stimulate the state's post-pandemic economy
- Wild storm in Newcastle: trees fall on cars, houses in Shortland, SES crews to work through Tuesday, November 17
- Tax cuts, food vouchers in virus budget
- Coal, energy policy and climate change bring Canberra heavyweights to the Hunter Region
