Joint Media Release - Labor’s Energy Trainwreck Forces Another Taxpayer-Funded Bailout for Smelter

THE HON SUSSAN LEY MP

LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION

THE HON ALEX HAWKE MP  
SHADOW MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY AND INNOVATION

THE HON DAN TEHAN MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR ENERGY AND EMISSIONS REDUCTION

JOINT MEDIA STATEMENT

LABOR’S ENERGY TRAINWRECK FORCES
ANOTHER TAXPAYER-FUNDED BAILOUT FOR SMELTER

Friday, 12 December 2025

The Albanese Labor Government’s decision to bail out Tomago Aluminium, at an as yet undisclosed cost to taxpayers, is a clear admission of failure and a direct consequence of the Prime Minister’s inability to deliver affordable and reliable energy.

Before the election, Anthony Albanese promised certainty for Tomago for decades.

Less than a year later, taxpayers are being asked to prop it up through a secret power-purchasing agreement, with no transparency and no accountability.

This is not certainty, it is crisis management.

The Government cannot keep hiding the bill. They must front up and explain to Australians how much of their money is being used in failed attempts to mop up Labor’s energy failures.

The Tomago bailout confirms the Prime Minister has lost control of Australia’s energy system.

Power prices are up around 40 per cent under Labor, families are paying around $1,300 more on their power bills, major manufacturers are under threat and business investment is stalling.

Since 2005, Australia has reduced emissions at almost double the rate of the developed world. Yet to reach Labor’s net zero by 2050 target, emissions reductions would need to double again.

Labor is setting targets it cannot meet, at a cost Australians cannot afford, and the result is exactly what we are seeing now: soaring electricity prices, businesses going to the wall or offshore, and a nation increasingly reliant on government bailouts.

This year has become the year of the government bailout.

It began with a $2.4 billion taxpayer rescue of Whyalla Steelworks and has now been capped off by today’s undisclosed deal for Tomago. These are not isolated decisions.

They are warning signs of an economy going backwards because energy policy is broken.

Australians deserve affordable power and responsible emissions reduction.

The Coalition believes we can do both, but affordable energy must come first.

Our plan delivers a practical path to affordable power prices and responsible emissions reduction.

It focuses on results Australians can afford, not targets Australia cannot meet.

We remain committed to the Paris Agreement and to reducing emissions in Australia’s national interest, as fast as technology allows, without imposing mandated costs on households or industry.

Labor has one simple question to answer: When will power prices come down like they promised?

Australians have been let down by this government. What they need now is a circuit breaker on energy costs and responsible action. That is exactly what the Coalition’s plan delivers.

[ENDS]