AWU calls for smelter strategy amid growing crises
National secretary Paul Farrow said the AWU would welcome a smelting strategy under Labor's Future Made in Australia policy, with equity or long-term loans on the table for business being forced to weather global markets being distorted by China and others.
Hashtags

Try Our AI Features
Explore what Daily8 AI can do for you:
Comments
No comments yet...
Related Articles

Sky News AU
12 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Labor will be forced to 'raise taxes quite significantly' or cut spending if productivity stalls, Ken Henry declares
Labor has been warned it will be forced to hike taxes quite significantly if productivity continues to stall as the Albanese government powers on with its second term economic agenda. Former Treasury secretary Ken Henry faced the National Press Club on Wednesday where he weighed in on the economic challenges facing Australia. Mr Henry, who authored a highly recognised white paper on tax reform in 2010, warned Labor that lagging productivity would mean the government will be forced to either hike taxes or cut spending. It comes as Labor faces growing fiscal pressures on the budget such as the ballooning NDIS and demands for Australia to increase defence spending. 'If the budget is to meet these growing spending pressures, then we've got two options: We either increase taxes as a share of GDP, or we grow the economy faster,' Mr Henry told National Press Club on Wednesday. He said the slump in productivity that continues to plague Australia's economy would force the government to find revenue elsewhere. 'Over the decade of the 1990s, average productivity growth was 2.31 per cent a year,' Mr Henry said. 'Over the past 25 years, it's averaged 0.98 per cent a year. That's a pretty fundamental difference. 'If we continue on that trajectory … we will have no option but to raise taxes. And quite significantly, by several percentage points of GDP ... or cut spending.' Mr Henry also voiced concerns about the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC) during his address, which he said needed an overhaul to boost productivity. 'I can think of other reforms to boost productivity. Some even harder, though none more important. And if we can't achieve environmental law reform, then we should stop dreaming about more challenging options,' Mr Henry said. He argued changes to legislation are critical for Labor as it wants to balance environmental concerns with ambitious projects, including delivering 1.2 million new homes and continuing with the Future Made in Australia plan. It would also mean changes to laws surrounding mining and critical minerals projects. 'The Australian government has an ambition to massively increase critical minerals exports and downstream processing here in Australia,' Mr Henry said. 'This means more mines, new industrial facilities, and more pressure being loaded onto broken EPBC project assessment and approval processes.' Labor is considering a raft of changes to boost productivity. The nation's economy will take centre stage at the productivity roundtable in August where leaders across business, economics, politics and unions will come together. A coalition of 28 businesses and industry groups have listed overhauling the EPBC as a major priority. Australia's enormous superannuation sector, alongside major industries including artificial intelligence and manufacturing, will also come under the microscope.

Sky News AU
17 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Fix environmental laws to productivity boost, Australian Climate and Biodiversity Foundation chair Ken Henry tells Labor
Fixing national environmental laws holds the key to boosting productivity in Australia, a leading environmental expert has told the Albanese government. Ken Henry, the former Treasury secretary who handed down a highly recognised white paper on tax reform, now serves as chair to the Australian Climate and Biodiversity Foundation and will address the nation's flailing productivity at the National Press Club on Wednesday. Productivity has become a major focus point for the Albanese government in its second term as it looks to bolster Australia's growth. Mr Henry will tell attendees the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act (EPBC) - Australia's main environment legislation - needs a radical overhaul. 'I can think of other reforms to boost productivity. Some even harder, though none more important. And if we can't achieve environmental law reform, then we should stop dreaming about more challenging options,' Mr Henry will say. He will says changes to legislation are critical for Labor as it wants to balance environmental concerns with ambitious projects, including delivering 1.2 million new homes and continuing with the Future Made in Australia plan. This also includes changes to laws surrounding mining and critical minerals projects. 'The Australian government has an ambition to massively increase critical minerals exports and downstream processing here in Australia,' Mr Henry will say. 'This means more mines, new industrial facilities, and more pressure being loaded onto broken EPBC project assessment and approval processes.' He will call for a 'quick and efficient' delivery of the ambitious projects in a 'way that not only protects, but restores, nature' as Labor attempts to reduce carbon emissions. 'To put it bluntly, there is no chance of Australia meeting stated targets for net zero, renewable energy, critical minerals development, housing and transport infrastructure without very high-quality national laws that set clear environmental standards for major projects, a strong national decision maker respected by all parties, and significant improvement not only in Commonwealth environmental protection systems, but also in those of the States and territories,' Mr Henry will say. 'And all these projects will be critical to enhancing economic resilience and lifting flagging productivity growth. 'Boosting productivity and resilience relies upon environmental law reform.' Labor is considering a raft of changes to boost productivity. The nation's economy will take centre stage at the productivity roundtable in August where leaders across business, economics, politics and unions will come together. A coalition of 28 businesses and industry groups have listed overhauling the EPBC as a major priority. Australia's enormous superannuation sector, alongside major industries including artificial intelligence and manufacturing, will also come under the microscope.

Sky News AU
20 hours ago
- Sky News AU
Mining giant Rio Tinto urges Albanese government to reimpose carbon tax and boost green energy subsidies to meet renewables targets
Mining giant Rio Tinto has used it's submission to the Productivity Commission ahead of the Albanese government's economic roundtable to lobby for the re-imposition of a carbon pricing scheme and bolstered green energy subsidies. Letters to the Productivity Commission's five pillars review, which will compile the agenda of the Albanese government's reform roundtable are beginning to flood in from a range of business groups and bodies. The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry used its submission to rail against the implementation of a 2035 emission reduction target larger than 65 per cent, stating the move would impede economic growth and stymie manufacturing. Meanwhile, the Australian Council of Trade Unions submission to the PC called on the government to consider imposing a Julia-Gillard style, economy wide carbon tax and said the policy was the best measure the government could take to ensure Australia was meeting its international climate obligations. The nation's second largest mining company joined the ACTU in advocating for the government to roll out a carbon tax, a policy which has been shelved for more than a decade since the fall of the Gillard government in 2013. Rio Tinto told the five pillars review that a new carbon pricing scheme was the only way the government could achieve its ambitious goal to have 82 per cent of Australia's electricity grid powered by renewables by 2030. 'Market-based price on carbon is the most effective way to incentivise the private sector to make low-carbon investments and drive down emissions,' Rio Tinto's submission read. The multinational company went a step further than the ACTU and outlined that a carbon tax alone was not enough to lower emissions in line with federal deadlines, arguing for the government to expand subsides to renewable energy producers. The consortium said greater federal funding packages were needed if the government wanted to bring down emissions in heavy industry while remaining 'commercially competitive in a global market.' Rio Tinto is one of the most significant inheritors of the Albanese governments Future Made in Australia fund that provides up to $1.5 billion in grant funding to support pre-commercial innovation, demonstration and deployment of renewable energy and low emission technologies. The company has several clean energy projects nationwide including large-scale solar and wind farms, battery storage facilities and renewable energy purchasing agreements. Rio Tinto, unlike the ACCI resoundingly backed in the government's goal of achieving 82 per cent renewable energy generation by 2030, and said the target 'provides certainty that Australia is committed to a decarbonisation pathway underpinned by the development of renewable energy at scale'. Australia's highest profile business leaders, including Rio Tinto CEO Kellie Parker and Fortescue founder Andrew Forrest joined Mr Albanese in Shanghai, on the second day of his six day long China visit and urged the PM to unleash greater collaboration on green steel and industrial decarbonisation efforts. 'We will create the future together of steel decarbonisation,' Ms Parker said. Fortescue, who's former CEO Andrew 'Twiggy' Forrest is an ardent renewables advocate used its submission to call on the government to boost taxpayer funded stimulus packages for renewable projects and lashed the ATO for not providing an adequate environment for clean energy investment. 'The Australian tax system does not currently provide sufficient incentives for major investment in new renewable or decarbonisation projects,' Fortescue's submission read.