Tony Abbott's jobs warning

By Matthew Jones
Updated November 6 2012 - 1:45am, first published March 16 2011 - 10:17am
Tony Abbott at the BlueScope steelworks yesterday. Picture: KEN ROBERTSON
Tony Abbott at the BlueScope steelworks yesterday. Picture: KEN ROBERTSON

China and Indonesia will be cheering as they take the jobs of Port Kembla steelworkers if a carbon tax is introduced, Federal Opposition Leader Tony Abbott has warned.Mr Abbott yesterday brought his fight against the tax to BlueScope Steel’s plant, taking a tour of the nation’s biggest single steelmaker before warning that Illawarra jobs will go overseas if the tax is introduced.‘‘I think that people in China and Indonesia are cheering Julia Gillard’s carbon tax because they could have your job,’’ he told steelworkers.‘‘That is the bitter truth of the carbon tax here in Australia – jobs will move from this country to Indonesia and China.’’BlueScope employs about 3100 people directly plus between 1500 and 2500 contractors. It supports another 12,000 jobs in the region, according to the Illawarra Regional Information Service.‘‘This plant is a target of Julia Gillard’s carbon tax ... my message to the people of the Illawarra is: what’s the good of a carbon tax, if it costs you your job?’’ Mr Abbott said.Labor Climate Change Minister Greg Combet labelled Mr Abbott’s comments ‘‘a disgrace’’.He said it was ‘‘outrageous’’ Mr Abbott was suggesting jobs would go to China and Indonesia.‘‘All he’s doing is whipping up fear,’’ he said.Mr Combet said the Gillard government was "completely committed to the steel industry" and to jobs in the Illawarra.The Prime Minister has said her government is committed to putting a price on carbon from 2012 and a carbon tax was seen as an interim measure on the way to an emissions trading scheme that will set targets for carbon emissions.Most accept that the steelworks will come into the firing line of such a tax - the facility is the region's most significant polluter and sits among the nation's top 10 greenhouse gas emitters, with output from Port Kembla of more than 12 million tonnes of carbon dioxide equivalent last year.What price the Government will put on carbon remains unclear, with most estimates placing it between $20 and $30 a tonne.At $25 a tonne, BlueScope's 12 million tonnes of CO2 equivalent would cost it $300 million in carbon permits.That figure would only drop to $150 million if BlueScope was given 100 per cent carbon tax rebates for steel it sends overseas.With BlueScope already $55 million in the red, Mr Abbott said a carbon tax would be a disaster for the company."If a company which is currently not making a profit is suddenly hit with an additional bill of $300 million a year, obviously jobs are going to go and the company's whole future is in jeopardy," he said.BlueScope earlier this month announced a company restructure, with the Australian and New Zealand steel manufacturing businesses - Australian Coated and Industrial Markets, and Australian Distribution and Solutions - to be merged into BlueScope Australia New Zealand.Cunningham MP Sharon Bird accused Mr Abbott of scaremongering and said the Gillard government understood "the reality of climate change" and the need to take action."Part of that is asking the big polluters to pay a carbon price," she said.That money would then be used to support households and jobs in trade-exposed industries such as steelmaking, she said.She said BlueScope would continue to be consulted as the Government worked out the details of a carbon tax."We are confident we can get the balance right on addressing this important issue," she said.BlueScope managing director and CEO Paul O'Malley has proposed a tax on steel imports as a balancing measure, should a carbon tax be introduced. A spokesman for Mr Abbott said that would do nothing to help the situation.Liberal candidate for Wollongong Michelle Blicavs yesterday said the Coalition would fight a carbon tax "adamantly"."I believe that it will be devastating for the Illawarra ... we potentially could lose thousands of jobs," she said.Wollongong MP Noreen Hay said she supported the reduction of carbon emissions but wanted to see jobs at BlueScope protected."I will fight tooth and nail to keep every single job that we've got," she said.

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