Christopher Pyne (Sturt, Liberal Party, Leader of the House) Share this | Hansard source

It is a very good question, and a lot of people want to know the answer as to the future of manufacturing and automation in Australia and the impact, effectively, of change on our workforce. I would direct the member for Chifley to the voluminous number of reports that exist from the excellent think tanks in Australia that we have around the job impacts of automation and high-tech, advanced manufacturing versus old-fashioned manufacturing.

I have left the portfolio, but I can tell him that the first two quarters of this year were the two best quarters for manufacturing since December 2004. That was in terms of new jobs, new businesses, export opportunities and investment. In those areas, in 2016 manufacturing had the two best quarters that it has had since 2004. So the economy is transitioning and there is no doubt that, for many Australian workers and their families, automation and manufacturing technology represents a threat to their livelihoods. The responsibility of this government—and it would be his responsibility and his government's responsibility if they had won the election—is to move our economy in a direction that provides new work opportunities for those workers in industries that are shrinking—in terms of old-fashioned manufacturing industries—whether it is Ford, Toyota, Holden or others. For that reason, the creation of the defence industry part of the Defence portfolio is a very genuine attempt by the Turnbull-Joyce government—as I understand we call it these days—to address some of those concerns. We have $195 billion of Defence spending heft in Australia in the next 10 years to create a domestic defence industry that employs tens of thousands of Australians in high-tech, advanced manufacturing for both our own needs and also for export. And that is particularly my task as the Minister for Defence Industry. Any facts or evidence that we can provide the member for Chifley to respond to his specific questions, I have no doubt that the advisers from the Minister for Employment's office has made a note and we will get them to him.

In terms of the general issue, we are, as a government, very focused on recognising that there are particular pockets of unemployment and disadvantage in areas of our economy where old-fashioned manufacturing was a significant employer. And, obviously, coming from Adelaide, that is very much the case in northern Adelaide and, to a lesser extent, southern Adelaide. But, of course, in areas of Western Sydney—which the member for Chifley represents—and parts of Tasmania, Geelong, northern Melbourne, Bendigo and parts of Brisbane this is obviously a particular problem. As a consequence, we need to use the resources that are at our disposal to get the Australian defence industry to a capability level where we can confidently spend as much of that Defence dollar here in Australia and drive the defence industry as a very significant pillar of our economy. I think as that happens—and it is already happening as that industry continues to grow and kick more goals, if you like—those people who are concerned about where their jobs will be in the future, for themselves and for their children, will see that the opportunities are there in high-tech, advanced manufacturing. One of the tremendous things about the defence industry is that it is very valuable; it requires high skills; and we have very skilled workforce in this country. We can compete because, even though the labour costs are high, it is in very high-tech, advanced manufacturing and it is not making T-shirts in other parts of the world where labour costs mean Australian cannot compete. It is in making products—whether they are submarines, future frigates, offshore patrol vessels, pacific patrol vessels, parts for the Joint Strike Fighter program or whatever it might be—that we are best in the world and it will create a very significant industry for our economy.

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