Reports that the Albanese Government is considering a new levy on Australia’s gas and coal exports should alarm every Australian household and business already struggling under Labor’s economic mismanagement.

Soaring energy costs, unworkable industrial relations laws and over-regulation mean we don’t have a ‘Future Made In Australia’ under this government, it’s a nightmare made in Australia.

Reports that Glencore’s Mount Isa copper smelter and Townsville refinery are on the cusp of closure should jolt the Albanese Labor Government into action.

We know what needs to be done to deliver and sustain the next mining boom for Australia: Affordable energy; Access to gas; Reduced and streamlined approval processes; Investment certainty; Workable and flexible IR laws. We now need the keys to government. We are ready.

So I thank for the work you do; the work you have done and the work you will do – the contributions to building our modern society, in the workplace and economically, through safer workplaces, and well paid opportunities for a diverse workforce; taxes and royalties paid, contributions to regional communities as well as investments environmentally, and partnerships with traditional owners all of which often goes unseen and underappreciated by wider society.