Karen Andrews (McPherson, Liberal Party, Minister for Industry) Share this | Hansard source

It's a great privilege to rise in this chamber as a cabinet minister in the new Morrison government. Our focus was made clear at the first meeting of the ministry last year when the Prime Minister presented each of us with an Australian flag pin—a symbolic and significant reminder for us from day one that we were there to serve the Australian people. It's a focus that never wavered. That was clear during the campaign, and it's even clearer to us all today. We know that our role is to back the aspiration of Australians. That's our job. It's not our job to tell them what they should be doing, how they should be thinking, what car they should be driving or what cause they should support.

Freedom is what underpins individual aspiration, and economic prosperity is what underpins both freedom and aspiration. That's why a strong economy is central to our vision and our agenda. It's not something we take for granted; it's something we work towards every day not because of ideology but because we know that a strong economy delivers a better way of life, more opportunity and a chance to get ahead for the quiet, hardworking Australians who make this country great. That's why the economy matters. It's about people, not numbers or figures.

I'm extremely proud to hold a broad and crucial economic portfolio: industry, science and technology. As an engineer by profession and having served as Assistant Minister for Science and Assistant Minister for Vocational Education and Skills, I came to this role with grounding in the essentials: science and practical skills. I'm also one of the many people on the side of the House who have run their own small business. Since I was elected in 2010, I've worked hard and diligently for my electorate of MacPherson on the southern Gold Coast and for the Australian people. I'm not a factional player. I don't seek the limelight. I believe good government is about results and working hard.

Let's be honest. Over the past decade, there has been a culture of musical-chairs leadership and political games on both sides of politics. I love Game of Thrones as much as the next person, but the instability and drama we've seen over the past decade are not what Australians want from their governments. It dismayed me as much as it dismayed everyone else. I'm pleased that those days are behind us. The Australian people voted in May this year for a new way of government under the leadership of Prime Minister Scott Morrison. They voted for stability, humility and sensible government that puts the Australian people first rather than those who walk the corridors of power.

I'm also proud to be an example of what can be achieved through quiet hard work and without self-promotion or quotas. It was recently pointed out to me that I'm the first woman ever from Queensland to sit at the federal cabinet table from either side of politics. Since Dame Annabelle Rankin became a minister 53 years ago in 1966, Queensland women have made a remarkable contribution to the parliament, but none have ever held a cabinet position. I'm proud to be the first of what I hope will be many more to come. I take this opportunity to acknowledge the confidence the Prime Minister has placed in me.

Just as our government works every day to repay the faith the Australian people put in us, I work every day to honour the responsibility I have as Minister for Industry, Science and Technology. The first minister for industry was named in 1928. I'm also very proud to be the first female industry minister in the federal government. I come to the position not because of or in spite of my gender but as someone who has the skills, passion and experience to do the job. The portfolio I'm honoured to hold is central to Australia's economy. The course of our economy in the future is being imagined, chartered and forged through science and technology, and industry is the vehicle that will power along that course, utilising and maximising the paths that science and technology create.

There are international forces challenging our domestic setting in new ways for government, businesses and workers in industries undergoing rapid change. Our government plans to drive all industries forward by getting the economic fundamentals right and by supporting businesses so they can be successful and globally competitive. Traditional sectors, including manufacturing, agriculture, forestry, mining and aquaculture continue to support millions of Australian jobs, with so many in outer suburban and regional Australia. At the same time, there are incredible opportunities opening up in the fields of automation, robotics, machine learning and artificial intelligence.

The influence of AI is growing and its potential cannot be overstated. Earlier this year, I released a discussion paper on the ethics of AI, as part of a consultative process. Our government recognises that, in order to realise the full potential of AI, it's important that Australians have trust in how it is being designed, developed and used by business and government. In my department we're making a concerted effort to link activity across government to meet industry needs and develop credible pathways to get people into jobs and to boost business. Last year alone, more than 425,000 businesses and organisations received advice and assistance through AusIndustry, and there were more than six million users of business.gov.au, our government's excellent online one-stop shop.

I won't take up time today listing all of the positive programs we're delivering, from accelerating commercialisation grants to the Entrepreneurs' Program and major projects funding, that deliver significant industry-building projects. They're all practical; they're all co-funding arrangements—no handouts. They're about making the process of growing businesses easier and more successful.

I'd like to mention the industry growth centres which our government introduced in 2015 for a four-year period. Last year we extended them for a further two years. Growth centres have been established in six industry sectors of competitive strength and strategic priority: advanced manufacturing; cybersecurity; food and agribusiness; medical technologies and pharmaceuticals; mining equipment, technology and services; and oil, gas and energy resources. Growth centres are not-for-profit organisations, each led by a strategic board of industry experts who oversee the operation. So far, they have kicked plenty of goals. Since they began, they've engaged with over 26,000 firms, research organisations and industry associations. They have delivered over 150 collaborative projects addressing sector-wide opportunities, with $57.9 million committed by the growth centres and $77.7 million leveraged from industry partners. They have conducted more than 450 skills workshops with over 10,000 participants and assisted in establishing 16 cooperative research centres to help businesses get an edge. They have coordinated a 'team Australia' presence that has supported over 900 Australian organisations at 40 international trade shows and outbound trade missions. This has resulted in at least 150 firms either securing their first export or expanding their sales.

Like all ministers, my first order of business is delivering the election commitments we made. These include establishing a $50 million manufacturing modernisation fund, which will provide grants to small and medium sized manufacturing businesses to modernise, grow and employ more Australians, particularly helping those in regional and outer-suburban Australia. We will also reinvigorate the Australian Made campaign with up to $5 million to promote the logo in Australia's key export markets, to maximise the value of Australian goods. We will be expanding the incubator Support Initiative with an additional $5.2 million, specifically to assist migrants establish a start-up business, because we know it's the Australian way that if you have a go, you get a go.

One of the great personal joys for me in this portfolio is having oversight for the science agencies, including CSIRO, ANSTO, IP Australia, the National Measurement Institute and Questacon, all of which are active internationally. In the international science community Australia has always punched well above its weight. To support that, we're constantly working to better align these agencies with our strategic approach to international science engagement. Our government knows and recognises that science should not be shackled or clouded by ideology. It must be free of ideological pressures. Scientific inquiry must be rigorous, thorough and always open to new research and ideas. The very best science is solutions focused and designed to address challenges rather than just assess and present them.

One of the government's exciting new agencies is the Australian Space Agency. I must confess that I am very fond of the title often bestowed on me by some in the media: the 'Minister for Space'. Of course, that is a very large and expansive portfolio. It is truly exciting to be spearheading our government's plan for Australia's space economy to triple the size of the space sector to $12 billion and create up to 20,000 new jobs by 2030. Our priorities for the space economy are set out in the Advancing Space: Australian Civil Space Strategy 2019-28, published earlier this year. In the April budget, we announced a new $19.5 million space infrastructure fund to be delivered over four years. Yesterday we celebrated the 50th anniversary of the moon landing, and I was delighted to join with Australians from across the nation who came to Parkes for the official commemoration.

I certainly hope that the activities and media interest in space over the last month help inspire young people to study STEM—science, technology, engineering and maths—which is also a focus of my work. Technology is undoubtedly the key to the productivity and competitiveness of Australian industry, and a skilled workforce is absolutely crucial. We know that the jobs of the future will be in STEM, so shaping a pro-technology agenda will be front and centre of our work over the coming term. Supporting the start-up sector, which is so often tech focused, is also part of our plan to make sure all business owners realise their aspirations. This leads me neatly back to our objective of backing the aspirations of the quiet Australians, as the Prime Minister articulated at that very first meeting and did so repeatedly during the election campaign.

I do want to take a moment to reflect on the election and, primarily, to thank the people of McPherson who placed their trust in me for a fourth time. I've always believed that my primary duty is to the people of the southern Gold Coast. That was my view when I was first elected in 2010 and it's still very much my approach today. I've spoken extensively in this place about our community, our business leaders, our outstanding education and health service providers, the volunteers who are the backbone of our sporting clubs, charities, veterans and community groups. I love the community that I've been part of for more than 20 years, where my husband, Chris, and I have raised our three daughters. There's no better place than the southern Gold Coast to raise your family, start a business, follow your aspiration or visit for a holiday.

In the few minutes that I have left, it's fitting that I thank the many local residents who have come onboard to help me over the past nine years, particularly during the last election campaign—old friends and new, my LNP branch members. There are far too many of them to name them all, but I do thank them all—those people who were out there in the lead-up to the election on prepoll, who were booth captains, who were booth workers, who helped wherever they could, as often as they could and for as long as they could.

I do want to mention my local LNP chairman, Ben Naday, who I have known for a very long time through the party. He has always been a tremendous supporter and has always had the southern Gold Coast and the LNP as the focus of his endeavours when making sure that we're fighting for a good deal on the Gold Coast. I'd also like to thank my treasurer, Boyd Hain, who I've also known and worked with for a very long period of time. He certainly keeps a tight rein and makes sure that we are maximising our opportunities on the southern Gold Coast. I'd also like to take a moment to thank the LNP team at our Queensland party headquarters, led by Lincoln Folo and Michael O'Dwyer. The result in Queensland speaks for itself—not only holding all our marginal seats but also winning the extra ones that got us across the line. To quote the Prime Minister, 'How good is Queensland?'

I know the long hours and sacrifice put in by everyone at LNP headquarters, and I thank them. I know the same is true of those at our federal headquarters, which was based in Brisbane and led by Andrew Hirst and his team. I genuinely thank them all for the work they did, particularly over the campaign period. I'd also like to thank my staff, both in my electorate office and in my ministerial office, for the extra time and effort they put into the campaign, as well as their ongoing support and energy as we worked together to deliver the government's positive plan for our nation.

I now turn to my family. We are a small but very close and tightly knit family: my mum, Moya Weir; my sister, Ann; my husband, Chris; and our three daughters, Emma, Jane and Kate. Throughout my life I've had tremendous support from my parents. Sadly, my father passed away before I was elected to parliament, but I know how much he would have wanted to have remained part of the work I'm doing here in parliament and how supportive he and Mum have always been to my sister and to me. Mum and my sister, Ann, once again rolled up their sleeves, chipped in and did everything they could to support me during the election campaign. For me, that's just the icing on the cake, because I know how much they do for me on a daily basis. To my husband, Chris—and I recall that shortly after I was elected he was described by some of my branch members as my 'long-suffering husband'. Well, I disputed that at the time, but now, nine years into my time in parliament, I must confess that Chris is my long-suffering husband, because he has gone above and beyond in all of that time to support me very personally and to make sure that our children, Emma, Jane and Kate, were looked after in the time that I was not physically present on the Gold Coast and at home.

So, to Chris I say thank you very much. To my three daughters, Emma, Jane and Kate: all I can say is that life is not always easy for political children. My daughters had the luxury, I would call it—they would call it something else—of being driven to school in a car that had their mother's name and face on the outside of it. I didn't really understand what the impact of that was until at one stage we took the signage off the outside of the car and one of my daughters said, 'It's so good that now when we pull up at the traffic lights people aren't staring at us.' I thought, that is just so true, because when you're in a vehicle you forget what's on the outside of the car. To my daughters, who were driven to school in a car with their mother's face on the outside: I'm sorry, but thank you for all of that. Once again, they too rolled up their sleeves, and they were on pre-poll, they were out there on election day—they've campaigned for me from day one. They have been tremendous. They have understood the times that I have been unable to be there, and they've never ever thought I wasn't a good mother. So, thank you, girls; I really do appreciate that.

This 46th Parliament and the Morrison government represent a new chapter in Australian political history. It's a time to rebuild trust, deliver real outcomes and create an economy where all Australians can get ahead. I look forward to the challenges and to making my earnest contribution to this parliament and to the Morrison government.

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