Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

On the Leader of the Opposition's question, like so many questions before, first and foremost, I think we should be very, very clear that the announcement by BlueScope today, which would be received as very, very difficult news for the workforce of BlueScope, with 1,000 jobs to go, 800 in the Illawarra and 200 in Hastings, that that very tough news for those families is not related to the government's policy of putting a price on carbon. I refer the House to the statement that BlueScope Steel made to the Australian Stock Exchange where it said:

The economic conditions for export steel-making from Australia appear unlikely to become favourable in the foreseeable future, and our continued exposure to this marker is clearly unsustainable. Our decision is a direct response to the economic factors affecting our business and is not related to the Federal Government's proposed carbon tax.

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