AMWU condemns Labor over lack of local input in multibillion-dollar wind tower projects

The union has criticised the Albanese government over wind towers, saying it’s time for it to invest in, or encourage, local content in renewables.

AMWU Victorian secretary Tony Mavromatis has urged Labor to ‘let the moths out of your purse’ and start investing in local jobs. Picture: Andrew Henshaw

A powerful union has attacked the Albanese government’s failure to commit to enough local content in the booming wind-based renewable energy sector, warning jobs and the future of young workers are being imperilled.

Australian Manufacturing Workers Union Victorian secretary Tony Mavromatis said the government talked relentlessly about the renewables sector but failed to invest enough to ensure local content levels were high enough in areas like wind towers.

Mr Mavromatis said the mothballing of mainland Australia’s last wind tower manufacturer after cheap imports using heavy-polluting Chinese steel had swamped Australia was an example of challenges facing the sector.

He urged Labor to “let the moths out of your purse” and start investing in local jobs. “We’ve been hearing too much words and not enough actions,” he said.

He was commenting after Portland wind tower manufacturing Keppel Prince had to mothball its plant because of a lack of commitment from Australian governments to support local companies.

Keppel Prince executive director Stephen Garner blasted the federal and Victorian governments after a long-running lack of certainty and failure to deal with heavily subsidised Asian steel imports forced the manufacturer to close its wind tower manufacturing facility, once one of the nation’s biggest.

Mr Mavromatis said there had been big announcements made federally with plans for large-scale investment but not enough money was being set aside to protect local jobs. He said something like 2000 wind turbines were due to be built but there was too little local content in areas such as wind towers, which made up the effective spine of any project.

There needed to be a discussion about an industry of the future where mandated local content might start at 60 per cent and then climb to 90 per cent. “They need to have a vision on it,’’ Mr Mavromatis said. “What are we going to do about the future training and developing our kids for the future?’’

Labor will go to the federal election focused heavily on renewable energy as a sharp contrast to the Coalition’s nuclear agenda. The AMWU will campaign on the need for local jobs in the renewables rollout.

Keppel Prince singled out Energy Minister Chris Bowen for criticism, saying he was well aware of the challenges facing local producers who were competing with China, where there were generous subsidies for producers that had crippled Australian competitors.

Coalition frontbencher Dan Tehan, whose electorate of Wannon covers Portland where Keppel Prince is based and still conducts work for Alcoa, said Labor had lost its way.

“Anthony Albanese’s Future Made in Australia policy is working as well as a plumber who bites his fingernails,’’ he said. “When you are a Labor PM and the unions are blasting your manufacturing policy you should know you have a serious problem, but the PM carries on like everything smells of roses. It just shows how out of touch he is.”

A spokesperson for Mr Bowen said the government recognised the opportunities energy transition represented.

“That’s why projects with strong local content commitments receive greater merit in the competitive Capacity Investment Scheme, and why offshore wind licences seek to maximise local content in projects, including local steel,’’ the spokesperson said.

“We are also co-investing with industry to lower emissions from our steel producers through the Powering the Regions Fund, and why green metals has been identified as a priority sector through our Future Made in Australia agenda.’’

The industry believes that while local companies are contributing to the internal infrastructure of wind towers, it is cheap Asian steel that has led to the effective death of tower production in Australia.

This means heavily subsidised Asian steel is imported into Australia, raising questions about local jobs but also the level of pollution that has been generated to produce the towers for Australia.

Keppel Prince has been in talks with the NSW and Queensland governments over potential projects but Mr Garner said there needed to be commitments to provide guaranteed 60 per cent local input to make them viable.