Just two days before the Bondi terror attack engulfed Australia’s political news cycle in December, Anthony Albanese made a flying visit to the lower Hunter region of NSW, one of Labor’s blue-collar heartlands. The prime minister was there to deliver a message for its biggest – and most troubled – manufacturing facility.
The Tomago aluminium smelter is a 43-year-old industrial behemoth that consumes more than 12 per cent of the state’s power. Standing in the rain outside the smelter, Albanese made a basic – and potentially very expensive – promise to its more than 1000 workers and their families: the plant would be saved.
Ryan CroppEnergy and climate reporterRyan Cropp is an energy and climate reporter at The Australian Financial Review based in the Canberra bureau.
Angela Macdonald-SmithSenior resources writerAngela Macdonald-Smith writes on the resources industry with a focus on energy, including gas, oil, electricity and renewables. Connect with Angela on Twitter. Email Angela at amacdonald-smith@afr.com
