THE HON ANDREW HASTIE MP
SHADOW MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY AND SOVEREIGN CAPABILITY
FEDERAL MEMBER FOR CANNING

TOM VENNING MP
FEDERAL MEMBER FOR GREY

STATEMENT
LABOR OVERSEES CLOSURE OF WHYALLA BLAST FURNACE

Monday 14 September 2026

The closure of the blast furnace at South Australia’s Whyalla steelworks marks a sad day for Australian industry, and hundreds of local jobs.

Despite a $2.4 billion bailout, the Albanese Government has failed to maintain a critical piece of infrastructure at Whyalla, which produces 75% of Australian structural steel.

Under Labor, we have seen the closure or bailout of some of Australia’s most important industrial facilities – Whyalla, Tomago, Nyrstar, Boyne, Glencore, the Boyer paper mill, Bell Bay, Oceania Glass and Nickel West – all in pursuit of its reckless Net Zero agenda.

Australian manufacturers and heavy industry need cheap and reliable baseload power.

Instead, they are fighting for survival under Labor’s radical climate targets while taxpayers are being forced to foot billions of dollars’ worth of bailouts. 

The Albanese Government has failed at its own “Future Made in Australia” policy.

[ENDS]