Labor commits $500 million to build renewable components with Australian metals

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The federal government will set "ambitious" targets to use locally-made steel and aluminium in renewable projects, including offshore wind, as part of a new $500 million funding commitment.

Last week, the Prime Minister visited Australia's other major steel-producing city, Wollongong.

On Friday night, during his Whitlam Dinner speech in Dapto, the PM vowed to allocate $500 million from the $1.7 billion Future Made in Australia Innovation Fund to guarantee the use of Australian metals in renewable projects.

He mentioned this would begin with wind tower construction.

"The new wind towers will require hundreds of tonnes of steel," Mr Albanese said.

Why should we get it from anywhere else?

This is a steel city; the steel industry in the Illawarra has provided generations of good blue-collar employment.

The Prime Minister said the fund will also support the aluminium industries in Gladstone, the Hunter Valley, Bell Bay and Portland.

The plan involves the federal government collaborating with unions and state governments to establish "ambitious" new targets for local content.

Labor commits to offshore wind

This decision reinforces the government's commitment to its offshore wind plan, and its confidence in the jobs that the industry will generate.

Steelmaking remains a vital industry for the Illawarra, employing about 3,000 people in the area and supporting many more jobs indirectly.

and the end of an era for coal mining in Australia.

The Illawarra offshore wind industry is forecast to generate more than 1,700 jobs during the construction phase and sustain over 800 ongoing jobs.

has promised to abolish the offshore wind zone.

When the Leader of the Opposition, Peter Dutton, was asked on the campaign trail on the South Coast of NSW recently about his plans to create new jobs for locals, he mentioned his party's nuclear policy.

"We're going to see over the implementation period of our policy, a lower electricity bill cost that'll be a benefit to all Aussies, and that will help Aussie industries grow, not decline," he said.

The fight for Whitlam

The Coalition will be heartened by the latest YouGov polling that has trimmed Labor's margin in Whitlam to less than two per cent.

The seat of Whitlam includes the southern suburbs of the Illawarra and parts of the Southern Highlands region.

The Labor party has nominated disability executive and lawyer Carol Berry as its replacement for retiring Assistant Treasurer Stephen Jones.

Sensing a chance, the opposition have mounted a two-pronged assault.

The Liberal Party has nominated former United Australia Party candidate Ben Britton, while the Nationals have backed former NSW politician Katrina Hodgkinson.

Offshore wind opponents are a vocal minority.

Some in the Illawarra think the local opposition to offshore wind farms is exaggerated.

Maddie Holme's from Good For the Gong, a grassroots mob supporting offshore wind, and she reckons the community's pretty keen on the idea.

"We've been out in the community, having hundreds and thousands of conversations with people about offshore wind, and the overwhelming majority of people are supportive or pretty laid back about it," she said.

They're a pretty loud mob, but they're definitely in the minority down here in the community.

The commitment to sourcing steel from local sources also aligns with the South Coast Labour Council's long-held call for local steelworks to be supported.

She said it's a huge plus for the community.

"It's a massive vote of confidence in the Illawarra region," she said.

Let's ensure the communities where these projects are based get the most out of it: better job security and industries that keep growing over time.