PM promises $500 million to support Australian steel use in wind turbines

The federal government will set “ambitious” targets to use locally-made steel and aluminium in renewable projects, including offshore wind, as part of a new $500 million funding commitment.

After Anthony Albanese announced a $2.4-billion package to rescue the embattled Whyalla steelworks last week, the prime minister travelled to Australia’s other steel city, Wollongong.

On Friday night, during his Whitlam Dinner speech in Dapto, the PM promised to set aside $500 million of the $1.7 billion Future Made in Australia Innovation Fund to ensure Australian metals were used in renewable projects.

He said this would start with wind tower fabrication.

“Every new wind tower needs hundreds of tonnes of steel,” Mr Albanese said.

“This is a steel city; steelmaking in the Illawarra has delivered generations of good blue-collar jobs.”

The prime minister said the fund would also support the aluminium industries in Gladstone, the Hunter Valley, Bell Bay and Portland.

The plan involves the federal government working with unions and state governments to set “ambitious” new local content targets.

Labor doubles down on offshore wind

The move reaffirms the government’s commitment to its offshore wind plan, and its belief in the jobs the industry will support.

Steelmaking remains a critical industry for the Illawarra, employing 3,000 people locally and supporting many more indirect jobs.

But the Illawarra economy is one in transition, with two of the region’s main coal mines closing last year and the end of local coal mining looming.

The Illawarra offshore wind industry is expected to create more than 1,700 jobs during the construction phase and support more than 800 ongoing jobs.

But the Coalition has stoked community opposition to the plan, and has promised to scrap the offshore wind zone.

When Opposition Leader Peter Dutton was recently asked on the campaign trail on the NSW South Coast what his plans were to create new jobs for locals, he referred to his party’s nuclear policy.

“We are going to see, over the period of the implementation of our policy, a lower electricity cost that is going to be of benefit to all Australians, and that will help industry grow not shrink,” he said.

The fight for Whitlam

The Coalition will be encouraged by the recent YouGov polling which has cut Labor’s margin in Whitlam to less than two per cent.

The seat of Whitlam includes the southern suburbs of the Illawarra and parts of the Southern Highlands.

Labor have put forward disability executive and lawyer Carol Berry as its replacement for retiring Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones. 

Sensing an opportunity, the opposition have launched a two -pronged attack.

The Liberal Party have put forward former United Australia Party candidate Ben Britton, while the Nationals have endorsed former NSW politician Katrina Hodgkinson.

Offshore wind opponents a vocal ‘minority’

But some in the Illawarra believe the local opposition to offshore wind is overblown.

Maddie Holme is from Good For the Gong, a grassroots organisation supporting offshore wind, and she believes the community is broadly supportive of the initiative.

“We’ve been out in the community, having hundreds and thousands of conversations with people about offshore wind, and the vast majority of people are supportive or they are pretty relaxed about it,” she said.

The commitment to source steel locally also aligns with what the South Coast Labour Council, representing local steelworks, have been calling for.

Ms Holme said it was a massive boost for the community.

“It is a huge vote of confidence in the Illawarra,” she said.

“Let’s make sure that the communities where these projects are located really get to reap the benefits: more secure jobs and developing ongoing industries into the future.”