Assistant Minister Tim Ayres confident Collie steel production could service South West offshore wind farm

Collie has the infrastructure in place for a successful transition away from coal and into green markets, a Federal Labor MP has said. Future Made in Australia and Trade assistant minister Tim Ayres visited Collie for a whirlwind day trip where he visited a number of mine sites and took part in round table discussions with a transition team. Collie is one of a number of regional towns the Federal Government is looking at to increase green steel production. Mr Ayres said such production could go towards contributing to the “1000s and 1000s of tonnes” of steel required for wind turbine projects. “Offshore wind requires vast amounts of steel, large scale manufacturing and this region of Western Australia is well equipped with deep water ports with industrial capability to contribute a very significant amount of content into those projects,” he said. “Those projects will deliver great jobs in construction, good jobs in ongoing operations, including maritime jobs, but also deliver low cost electricity and stabilise our electricity sector and provide energy for future manufacturing.” The State Opposition has been critical of the State Government’s handling of the closure of Collie’s coal production sector by 2030 but Mr Ayres said he believed the infrastructure was in place to succeed in the transition. “Collie has got a lot of advantages, it’s on the grid, a great industrial workforce, it’s got a really strong industrial infrastructure, and it’s got land set aside to make this great industrial transformation work,” he said. “Of course all of these things are going to be an enormous challenge and it’s going to need government and the business community, trade unions and the local community working together to deliver these outcomes.” Mr Ayres is the latest of a number of Federal MPs to come to Collie in the wake of the Coalition’s promise to build a small modular nuclear reactor near the town if elected next year. Anthony Albanese and Climate Change and Energy Minister Chris Bowen toured a battery site and graphite processing plant in September while assistant minister and Perth MP Patrick Gorman has stopped by the town twice to talk to industry. On the other side of the aisle Peter Dutton made a hasty trip in to town to meet with the Collie council while avoiding protesters and shadow minister for climate change and energy Ted O’Brien has met with industry several times in the South West.