Industry Minister Tim Ayres blames Coalition governments for high power prices despite Labor being in its second term

A senior Labor minister has blamed the previous Coalition government for current power price rises despite the Albanese government entering its second term.

Rising energy costs are putting continued pressure on households and businesses with the nation’s largest aluminium smelter Tomago on Tuesday revealing it may shut down over soaring electricity costs .

Industry Minister Tim Ayres said the energy troubles plaguing Australia’s major manufacturers stemmed beyond the Albanese government’s time in power.

“Energy costs for Australia have been a challenge now for not just the last three years, but have been a challenge for the last fifteen years,” Mr Ayres told NewsDay.

He said the current energy problems were due to a “decade of disinvestment” when the Coalition was in power.

“If you