Outside billionaire Anthony Pratt’s paper mill in the Midwest state of Ohio, workers say there’s a simple reason they are voting for Donald Trump and his home-grown running mate J.D. Vance at the US election: they know how to make money.

The paper and recycling plant – opened by then-president Trump, then-prime minister Scott Morrison and Pratt five years ago to the sounds of ACDC – was welcomed by locals. The mill provided 1500 construction and 230 permanent jobs and was hailed as an example of company tax cuts drawing foreign investment.