Michaelia Cash: What Anthony Albanese isn’t telling you about Labor’s attack on WA's resources industry

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese is trying to con Western Australians.

Mr Albanese swooped into our State late last week oozing fake charm and talking up Western Australia and our contribution to the nation’s economy through our mining and resources sector.

He trumpets his Government’s policy to provide production tax credits for mining companies and in turn attacks the Coalition for not supporting the policy.

But what is most instructive is what Mr Albanese isn’t telling Western Australians about his policy.

To start with, Labor’s deals with the Greens mean that gas, oil, and coal projects will not be eligible for any funding under their trademark Future Made in Australia Act.

Western Australia is of course the gas powerhouse of our nation and has been for a very long time. For example, the North West Shelf project began in 1984 and has been followed over the years by projects like Pluto, Gorgon, Wheatstone and Scarborough to name a few.

But Labor has sided with the ideological beliefs of the Greens ahead of supporting the future of the gas industry in Western Australia.

The second key thing Mr Albanese isn’t telling Western Australians is that to access production tax credits and other supports under his Future Made in Australia policy a company will need a union agreement, a reconciliation action plan, and social procurement agreements.

Yes, Mr Albanese is using this policy to allow the unions to make further inroads into our mining and resources sector.

This all comes in the guise of companies having to comply with so-called ‘Community Benefit Principles’ to be set by the Treasurer with the stroke of a pen through delegated legislation.

The tax credits legislation makes it clear that failing to comply with these principles risks their tax credits being reduced to zero.

The principles are broad and could include union agreements, First Nations involvement, training requirements, environmental/climate objectives, and tax requirements.

Business has already made it clear this is a risk to productivity and investment — likening it to Queensland’s Best Practice Industry Conditions (BPIC) arrangements and social procurement rules that allowed the criminal elements of the CFMEU to embed itself in infrastructure procurement in that State.

That has proved disastrous in Queensland. The new Queensland Government has paused BPIC with Deputy Premier Jarrod Bleijie blaming BPIC for a cut to productivity and cost blow-outs.

Queensland Treasury modelling estimated BPIC increases project costs by up to 25 per cent.

Unions are already excited by the Community Benefits Principles part of the policy.

When asked about the Community Benefit Principles, the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union (AMWU) told the Senate Economics Legislation Committee that they think all jobs borne from Future Made in Australia investments must be unionised.

So, when you hear Mr Albanese talking up his production tax credit policy as a great boost for Western Australia keep in mind what he’s not telling you.

Mr Albanese also conveniently avoids the reality of policies of his Government that are having a detrimental impact on Western Australia.

Labor is sinking Western Australian industry through secret deals to pass radical environmental laws, reckless workplace relations changes, banning live exports, and increasing taxes on our LNG industry.

Mr Albanese has made it clear his Government has not scrapped the so-called nature positive laws.

What is also clear is that if re-elected in minority, and a Labor-Greens alliance government is formed they will bring back a super charged environmental protection bill that will cripple mining in Western Australia.

If Mr Albanese truly supports the mining sector in Western Australia he should rule out once and for all these laws ever coming back to Parliament.

He won’t do that because he knows that if he is forced into minority government after the next election, he will have to do a deal with the Greens and these laws will be front and centre.

A second term Albanese government will be terrible for Western Australia but a Labor-Greens alliance government will be an absolute disaster for our great State.

As the mining sector has pointed out many times these laws are a direct attack on WA and will threaten future mining projects.

Mr Albanese’s attack on Western Australia’s mining industry is not limited to the EPA Bill.

This Government decided to implement radical industrial relations reforms that, through the collective bargaining provisions, have gifted the unions entrée back into the Pilbara.

The Coalition’s support of the Western Australian mining industry is unequivocal.

The Coalition will further turbo-charge the sector by dramatically cutting the approval times for new projects and clearing away red tape which is strangling investment.

We believe this is the best way to encourage and assist the entrepreneurial spirit that has driven our great State for so long.

Mining and resources companies have been telling us for some time that significantly improving these processes will save them billions of dollars and will help bring projects online years earlier than in the past.

This will drive more jobs sooner in Western Australia and give certainty to investment decisions.

It is better for the sector and for Western Australia both in the short and long terms.

Michaelia Cash is a Liberal senator for WA