Opposition Leader Bill Shorten donned a hard hat at the steelworks on Thursday before revealing Labor’s six-point plan for the industry. 

Mr Shorten’s visit raised questions why Mr Pyne, who has been industry minister for almost seven months, hasn’t done the same. 

Ms Sudmalis defended the minister’s lack of presence in the region, saying a busy schedule had kept Mr Pyne from visiting. 

“When you’re in opposition you actually have a little bit more time than when you’re in government,” she said. 

The Liberal MP stressed she helped arrange Mr Pyne’s meeting with Illawarra stakeholders in October and the minister “managed to push that meeting in between other commitments”.

“So, it’s not like he hasn’t been here. You have to collect that information, you have to advocate for it,” she said.

“To actually just go through the steel mill is probably not an essential ingredient of understanding the industry.” 

The Mercury reminded Ms Sudmalis the steel roundtable was held in Sydney, not the Illawarra.

“The reason for that was because we knew that it was important and there’s no way he [Mr Pyne] had the time to get to the Illawarra,” she said.

Asked why he was yet to visit the Port Kembla steelworks or offer it any direct support, Mr Pyne dodged the questions and reiterated he had met with BlueScope representatives and stakeholders. 

“The Turnbull government has been acting decisively in pulling the policy levers to support our steel industry through cracking down on steel dumping and circumvention, abolishing the carbon tax and exempting steel from the renewable energy target,” he said.

“The last thing the Illawarra needs is a Labor government who will bring back Julia Gillard’s carbon tax which will cost jobs and threaten the ongoing viability of Australia’s steel industry.”