Fed govt needs to support Alcoa: ALP

The closure of Alcoa's Point Henry smelter on the Abbott government's watch will show that it doesn't care about blue-collar jobs, the opposition says.

Alcoa has not decided on the future of the Geelong smelter, but has ruled out asking for more government funding.

Opposition leader Bill Shorten says the Abbott government should provide policy certainty to encourage the company to keep its operations in Australia, rather than give up on manufacturing.

"I am most concerned that the Abbott government policy on manufacturing is to buy a white flag, run it up the mast and say Australia can't compete with the rest of the world," he told reporters in Melbourne.

"If Alcoa goes on the Abbott government watch, following the decision of Holden, following the complete chaos over what's happening at SPC and Qantas, it'd become very clear that this Abbott government is not interested in manufacturing or blue-collar jobs in Australia."

The federal and Victorian governments had not rejected outright adding to the $44 million-plus in assistance provided in 2012 alone, on top of decades of huge electricity subsidies, but the aluminium giant has now made the decision for them.

The closure of Point Henry would put 500 people out of work.

That would add to the 1,200 people who will lose their jobs in Geelong when Ford pulls out of manufacturing in 2016.

Mr Shorten said other first-world economies are capable of manufacturing, but the government has given up on it in Australia.

Alcoa generated significant export revenue for Australia, significant jobs and significant taxes paid by Australia workers to the government, he said.

"We need to get behind our manufacturers and recognise that as the dollar comes down we want to make sure there's still some manufacturing in Australia to take advantage of Australian skills."