Tuesday, 15 September 2026

Topics: Whyalla steelworks; energy; productivity; taxation; industrial relations.

E&OE……………………..

Chris Kenny: Let's go now to Canberra and catch up with Shadow Treasurer, Tim Wilson. Tim, thanks for joining us. I want to go straight away to this green hydrogen revolution that somehow now Chris Bowen suggests he's always been sceptical about. How can that scepticism was never evident in budgetary decisions, because they've blown billions on this stuff, haven't they, with billions more in the pipeline?

Tim Wilson: The question was posed today if you're sceptical at spending $9 billion on green hydrogen, we'd be terrified how much money they'd blow if they actually believed in it. Look, this is just the climate change minister seeking to distract. The government has rammed through and consistently pushed the idea that baseload fuels like gas have no role in the Australian economy. I remember when there was a fight between our current leader Angus Taylor and Chris Bowen over whether Kurri Kurri should be run on gas or hydrogen, and Chris Bowen said we'll never have these gas turbines run on anything other than hydrogen. We're now in a situation where we've got one of the biggest steelmakers in Australia no longer able to produce 75% of the steel that's produced for Australian construction. This is a disaster and the climate change minister has his hands all over it and they’re coloured green hydrogen.

Chris Kenny: Well, this is it. It's coloured their decisions because they were saying curry-curry would run on hydrogen, they're talking about it, and this is a big promise, pumping billions into it, and of course, while they're doing that, they're not actually firming up our electricity grid and our energy needs in the ways that are necessary. A classic example being Whyalla, right? We're now looking at 600 people losing their jobs. That steelwork needs an electric arc furnace. Who's going to pay for that? And where is it going to get its power from? Surely South Australia's renewable-driven grid can't power an electric arc furnace.

Tim Wilson: Exactly. In fact, the point was made today that the building I'm in, and of course you can see the image of in the back, was built by steel that came from Whyalla. Now we would have to import it. This is the problem with the Albanese government's approach to energy, letting ideology dictate their decisions. They're not actually making long-term decisions in the national interest. The problem isn't just though one of dollars for the 500 on workers who've lost their jobs, it's a very serious concern and a very much a story about dollars. There's a much bigger story about time, because we need to be able to get investment in and drive down the cost of energy for Australians and particularly Australian industry, and every day this government misdirects their effort, misdirects their time towards pursuing green dreams, we're losing time to invest and build the future of the Australian economy and we will pay a very heavy price.

Chris Kenny: It's a hell of a worry. Let's go to the broader issue of productivity in this country, which has been going backwards. Here is Bran Black from the Business Council of Australia:

Bran Black: We've consistently called for a target of a 25% cut in the value of regulation on our economy, comprehensive tax reform that tackles our uncompetitive tax rates in terms of company tax, but also income taxes and consumption taxes, and of course our uncompetitive industrial relations system, which is now fundamentally out of balance.

Chris Kenny: It's a big reform agenda. None of it's being tackled by Labor. How much of that could we expect the coalition to take to an election?

Tim Wilson: We're stepping through that policy development now, but make no mistake, I'm a reformer at heart. I want to see change. I think that what the government has done on tax is actively disincentivise young Australians who go off and set their own set up their own innovative businesses that are more likely to be productive, more likely to innovate and more likely to employ Australians. That's why we've given a commitment to repeal Labor's taxes, but I want to see if we can go further and actively incentivise people to set up small businesses. On industrial relations, I think it's very clear to me that what the government has done has made it a lot harder to employ Australians, and what we actually need is much clearer simplification of the system and to introduce harmony. But we also need to make sure that it's attractive for investment. And investment comes from removing barriers for regulation in particular. I've spoken publicly about looking at for instance what they do in Singapore where within regulators that are currently focused solely on minimising risk that we have to focus on how they're going to promote industry development so they get the balance right, because at the moment, we're being sucked down a regulation vortex.

Chris Kenny: Yeah, the red tape is killing businesses and killing investment. Thanks so much for joining us, Tim. I appreciate it. Tim Wilson there, the Shadow Treasurer joining us from Canberra.

[ENDS]