The opposition has blasted the $27.8 billion in production credits in the budget as “tax cuts for billionaires”, vowing to repeal them if elected, putting it on a collision course with the bosses of Australia’s lithium and rare earths companies.

Opposition Leader Peter Dutton said the likes of Andrew Forrest, who has lobbied for years for subsidies to produce clean hydrogen, would be better off with sounder business fundamentals such as cheap energy, faster approvals and less workplace regulation.