David Littleproud, Leader of The Nationals, was in the Illawarra today (Wednesday, 12 March) to speak about the proposed offshore wind farm project.

While in the area, Littleproud was interviewed by Sky News reporter Jaynie Seal, following the news that Donald Trump had ruled out granting Australia a tariff exemption on its steel and aluminium exports.

Karoline Leavitt, White House Press Secretary, stated that the decision was made to prioritise America's steel industry, adding that Australia could move its steel manufacturers to the U.S.

Littleproud expressed his concern over the news. “I'm in the Illawarra right now, there are 3,000 direct jobs at BlueScope Steel, 10,000 indirect jobs across the Illawarra that rely on the steel industry and exports in particular that go into the United States,” he said.

“This will be a tax on their product and what they’re manufacturing here and there is a human toll to this and the people of Illawarra are the ones that could bear the brunt of this.”

David Littleproud and Katrina Hodgkinson. Photos supplied.

He also called on the Prime Minister to urgently contact President Trump to request a carve-out for Australia.

 “We should say to the United States, you gave us a carve-out in 2018, we have an even more compelling case now to give us a carve-out, we are close allies, not just over the last couple of years, but for generations, and it's important that the Prime Minister understands the urgency of this,” said Littleproud.

While in the Illawarra, Littleproud also made it clear that he opposed the offshore wind farm project.

“Peter Dutton and I have both made it very clear that if a Coalition government is elected, that we will call this project in, along with Port Stephens,” said Littleproud. 

“It doesn't have community support, it doesn't pass the environmental or economic tests, so we will go down a path of giving you a sensible energy policy that’s cheaper than an ‘all renewables’ approach by having a mix with nuclear but, in the short-term, it's a lot about gas.”

Littleproud emphasised that his main concern was lowering energy costs for Australians and that an all-renewable energy future was not feasible.

“Just ask yourself, has your energy bill gone down by the $275 that Anthony Albanese promised since they came into power? The reality is that there's no country with the industrial scale of Australia that is going down an ‘all renewables’ approach and it is dearer,” said Littleproud.

“Frontier Economics has made it very clear that, if you go down Labor's path, it is 44 per cent dearer than having a mix in your grid that includes nuclear but, in the short-term, the only way to get anyone’s energy bill down is to pump gas into the grid quickly.”

He also urged the Labor party to confirm whether they had cancelled the project following BlueFloat’s request to delay the project.

“I’m calling for the Illawarra community to be given certainty this week and for Labor to stop the unwanted project now,” he said.