Anthony Albanese (Grayndler, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

What we need is a government that backs Australian workers, that backs Australian industries and that backs Australian innovation and creativity. And we have just that. Through our National Reconstruction Fund we will have a $15 billion fund to support existing industries to transform, but also to support new industries to be created. We have in this country everything that goes into a battery—for example, we have nickel, we have copper and we have lithium. Yet, most of it is manufactured overseas. We need to value-add here. Our resources sector will continue to be important in terms of exporting, but where we can we should be value-adding, creating jobs and creating advanced manufacturing right here in this country. One way that we can do that is by having cheaper, cleaner energy, which will drive down the cost of manufacturing in this country. We can advance food processing and value-add to agriculture. We can add in terms of defence industry, as well. We're a world leader in science. We have been responsible for so much of the innovation throughout the world but we haven't commercialised those opportunities. We have a commitment for there to be 1.2 million tech jobs by 2030. We'll also be a government that buys Australian, that uses our purchasing power to support small businesses in this country. We need a future made in Australia. We need to be able to stand on our own two feet, and that is one of the lessons that we have from the pandemic. We've learnt it, we've developed a plan and we'll set about implementing that plan over this term of government.

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