That’s the blunt message delivered by Australian Industry Group’s regional manager Justin Boehm at an Illawarra Energy round table in Wollongong on Tuesday.

The meeting, organised by Whitlam MP Stephen Jones and Cunningham MP Sharon Bird, included Labor Energy spokesman Mark Butler and representatives from BlueScope, Bisalloy Steel and others.

READ MORE: Energy prices rising in the Illawarra

Mr Boehm said manufacturing in the region would cease to be viable if the current high energy prices continued.

“Prices have doubled effectively – and that’s only in the last two years,” Mr Boehm said.

“It’s really important that we get some downward pressure on the energy pricing. From an industry standpoint we are technology-agnostic; we don’t care whether it’s coal, nuclear, renewables, pump-hydro.

“It doesn’t matter as long as there’s stability the policy for a long period of time – 10, 20 years.”

He also called for a bipartisan approach to energy reform to help the stability of manufacturing in the Illawarra and allow it to plan for the future.

It was a call echoed by Mr Butler, saying energy had been an “area of political division for too long”.

“Labor is committed to working with the manufacturing industry, with trade unions and with the Turnbull government to do everything we can to deliver a bipartisan solution,” he said.

“A solution that gives business and investors the confidence they need to put the money on the table to build a long-term future for manufacturing jobs in this region.”