They expected cheering, not jeering. The opposition has always believed steel workers and coal miners were 'pure gold' when it comes to opposing the carbon tax.
But not the Wollongong crowd they met on Wednesday.
It's formerly Labor heartland, whipped up by the unions.
WATCH THIS STORY ON YOUTUBE (Not available on app)
"The employers covering those industries are happy, the workers covering those industries are happy with the deal" Arthur Rossis, Secretary of the South Coast Labour Council said.
He doesn't want the opposition to block the government's $300m transformation package for the industry.
It's being passed as separate legislation to the carbon tax and it didn't receive support from the multi-party climate committee.
Climate Change Minister Greg Combet says the opposition is engaged in a fear campaign.
"This whole fear campaign about carbon pricing has been so overblown, so overhyped, and so ridiculous what Tony Abbott has been running around doing."
It shows that it's wrong to generalise the Illawarra.
It's a region which heavily depends on steel and coal, together they employ roughly 8000 workers in both industries.
As the steel making soul of NSW, Wollongong produces 5 million tonnes of steel a year, while entire towns are built around the coal pits.
Helensburg is one such place, home too the oldest mine in the country: Metropolitan Collier, opened in 1860.
Just yesterday its owner Peabody Energy launched a $5bn takeover bid for Macarthur Coal.
The government says companies wouldn't invest in Australian mining if the industry didn't have a future.
Locally, state MP Noreeen Hay says she's yet to see much anger in the community.
Julia Gillard announced the carbon tax just weeks before the NSW labor government was annihilated from the state election.
But In the pefect checkmate, Hay kept her seat by the smallest of margins.
"I can see that people are looking to get more information and usually that's the case", Hay said.
"And as you can see behind me, there's a large non-English speaking background component of my electorate and they like to get the detail and like to understand it before they come to a concrete position."
The Australian Coal Association insists the compensation packages will only go so far.
After the $1.3b dollar package for the coal insustry roughly 3000 jobs will be lost across the state, and the industry would pay $18b in tax
It's whether people care or not that will make the difference.
