Liberty Bay Bell Manganese Smelter

Question

1. The Department's June 2025 brief (FOI 300062, Document 8) identified energy affordability and availability as primary pressures on Australian smelters. Liberty Bell Bay entered voluntary administration on 23 March 2026. a. Does the Department accept that energy affordability and availability were a primary driver of Liberty Bell Bay's distress? b. Beyond time-limited wages support during administration, what's the Government's policy response to the energy-cost pressure the Department has identified across the broader smelter base? c. Was Liberty Bell Bay listed on the Department's June 2025 ''at-risk'' assessment? If so, what action did the Department take between June 2025 and the administration filing on 23 March 2026? If not, why not, given the facility had been largely idle since May 2025? 2. On 19 May 2025, and again in a 7 July 2025 interview with ABC Hobart, the Minister described Liberty Bell Bay as ''a commercially successful facility.'' The facility had been largely idle since around May 2025 and entered administration on 23 March 2026. a. Was the Minister briefed by the Department on the operational status of the facility before that statement was made? b. If so, on what basis did the Department advise that the facility was commercially successful at a time when it had been idle? c. The Minister stated the rapid assessment commissioned in May 2025 would provide advice ''over coming days.'' On what date was that advice provided to Government, and what did it conclude? 3. Liberty Bell Bay produced the ferromanganese and silicomanganese alloys used by Australian steelmakers, including Whyalla. With the facility in administration and no other Australian manganese smelter operating, Australian steelmakers will rely on imported alloys, predominantly from China and South Africa. a. Has the Department modelled the effect on Australian steel-production costs of dependence on imported manganese alloys? If so, provide the results. b. Has the Department assessed the strategic exposure of Australian steel production to a Chinese export restriction on manganese alloys, comparable to the restrictions China has imposed on antimony, gallium and rare earths? c. If no buyer is secured through administration, what's the Commonwealth's position on preserving Australia's sovereign manganese-smelting capability? 4. On 22 April 2026 the Government announced a wages-support package for Liberty Bell Bay workers. Administrators applied to the Federal Court to stand down the workforce within approximately 12 hours. a. When the package was announced, was the Department aware that a stand-down application was imminent? b. What due diligence did the Department undertake on the administration's near term workforce intentions before the announcement was made?

Answer

See attached response.

Documents

• Question with answer (PDF) (opens in a new tab)
• BI-022_Liddle_Liberty Bay Bell Manganese Smelter_DISR.pdf (opens in a new tab)