Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Mental Health and Suicide Prevention) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation Bill 2022. The Albanese government is breaking promises but it's also breaking the hearts of kids all across Australia who had the dream of being in the space industry. When I attend schools and when schools come to Canberra, I ask kids what they would like to do when they leave school. One of the most popular choices, when almost every child puts up their hand, is when I ask: 'Who wants to work in the space industry?' The kids get so excited, because in Western Sydney under the coalition government they had that opportunity within their grasp. We supported funding to locally design, develop, manufacturer and deploy space products, equipment, systems and services for export to international markets and to support national and international space missions.

But the government has decided to remove space manufacturing from its plans for manufacturing in this country, therefore breaking the hearts of those kids who wanted those future careers. For me in Western Sydney, that was about creating new and exciting jobs so those kids didn't have to leave our local area for a job and do those long commutes. They could have dreams. They could have reached for the stars under the coalition's modern manufacturing plan. But that is to be no longer. When I was elected as the federal representative to my community of Lindsay, I committed to working hard to ensure that we have more local jobs so people could live, work and stay in our community. It is something I am extremely passionate about, which is why I'm extremely sad for all those kids who wanted to work in space manufacturing in Western Sydney.

As someone who commuted out of the area for many years for work, one industry that I completely back and will always back is Australian manufacturing. To back Australian manufacturing we must leverage the strengths that give our industry a competitive advantage. We cannot compete with mass-producing nations on low-value products, and nor should we. The new era of manufacturing will focus on our strength, where we can compete on quality and value and not just price. I've always believed Western Sydney can be at the forefront of this new era of Australian manufacturing. We have the existing network of established manufacturers and the coalition government was making significant investment to support emerging capabilities in advanced manufacturing.

As we look to our country's strengths, backing Australian made things is what would help us create more local jobs and grow our economy. That's why I established the advancing manufacturing taskforce to bring together our local manufacturers with leading scientists, entrepreneurs, and representatives from schools and TAFE and universities to address the challenges facing local manufacturers and to grab hold of the opportunities. I was and still am particularly focused on ensuring that our local kids are educated and trained in the jobs of the future that are coming to Western Sydney. From Baker and Provan in St Mary's to Grant Engineered in Penrith and Plustec in Emu Plains, we already have a strong local manufacturing industry. Western Sydney is home to Australia's largest industry concentration of manufacturing, generating in excess of $41.5 billion per annum. The manufacturing sector employs more than 114,000 people in Western Sydney across transport, warehousing and logistic supports—an additional 71,000 jobs.

When the coalition was in government, I was really excited about the future of Australian manufacturing in Western Sydney, and I knew that we were delivering what people and manufacturers in Western Sydney needed because we asked them. We didn't just expect that they would go along with our policies. We sat down, we had taskforces and we were delivering what they said they needed. Our record as a trusted and dependable trade and defence partner presented further chances for us to grow in the field of advanced manufacturing. That's why I have risen today to speak on the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation Bill 2023. I strongly object to the bill on a number of areas, particularly as it does not include something as important as space manufacturing. That's completely extraordinary.

I would like to acknowledge some of the companies and manufacturers in my community that I've met with on a number of occasions through my taskforce, through visiting them and through listening to them to support them throughout their journey to create more jobs for local people. Like I've said, there's SpanSet at Emu Plains, which specialises in work safety equipment. There's Baker and Provan in St Marys, which is a heavy machinery and heavy fabrication company that has been in the community for over 70 years, now. That's 70 years of manufacturing in St Marys. Of course, there's a new manufacturing hub on Castlereagh Road in Penrith. When we were in government, there was a lot of confidence in investing in manufacturing in our local area in Western Sydney. Of course, Western Sydney international airport is creating opportunities for advanced manufacturing jobs. But, without investment from the Albanese government, those jobs certainly will not be in the space industry.

Under the previous government we saw positive steps forward, and that's why I'm standing today to talk about why I oppose this bill. This bill misses some key points and ignores the economic issues that the government must address, such as rising energy prices. One manufacturer in my community talked about their prices going up 600 per cent and how they would not be sustainable into the future. That is hundreds of local jobs in manufacturing on the brink because they can't afford the skyrocketing energy prices, not to mention labour market shortages and disrupted supply chains. Without policies that create strong economic conditions, any government spending is absolutely in vain.

The coalition is opposing this bill, because, as I said, when we were in government we would sit down and listen to manufacturers. I had a taskforce where they would consult with me, and we would take their needs to government, rather than what the government thought they needed. Rather than coming to the table and addressing what manufacturers want, particularly in Western Sydney, the government is just telling them what they need. The simple fact is that, without addressing these key economic challenges which face our country right now, government spending is absolutely wasteful. Under the economic mismanagement of this government, any proposed financial support could be whittled away by increased input costs.

The bill will create even more lost time for manufacturers, taking significant time for money to start flowing to them, if it works at all. The Clean Energy Finance Corporation, on which the NRF is modelled, was established in 2012. The first investment was only made some 10 months later. It took 10 months for any money to start flowing to manufacturers. Our manufacturers, who are already struggling, as we know, just cannot afford to wait that long. Like I stated earlier, some manufacturing businesses in Lindsay and others close by in Western Sydney could absolutely fold under the cost of energy prices.

The government announced that the NRF should be up and running by the next financial, but, like many things with this government, they have not committed to a launch date. It's eerily similar to the commitment to have Medicare urgent care clinics up and running by May this year. One of those was promised to my community in the electorate of Lindsay, but I'm yet to have any information on it. I believe it has been pushed back to the end of this year. Is that what's going to happen with manufacturing as well? Will they be pushing back those much-needed funds for manufacturers to push through the struggles of this time of high energy prices?

Industry feedback that the coalition has had suggests the funding model the government is proposing takes years to get right. Those will be lost years that manufacturers just can't afford. The NRF has a poor funding model. The model has shifted from competitive grants programs with robust processes to the government acquiring equity and providing loans. Manufacturers have to come to the government to get a loan. The unintended consequences include that government equity and loan schemes are less accessible than grants, and that manufacturers may struggle to meet return-on-investment thresholds or put together detailed business cases in-house. And what will happen to failed or failing loans? It's clear that the last experiment down this path, the Victorian Economic Development Corporation, uprooted manufacturers. We do not want that to happen. I certainly don't want to see any Western Sydney manufacturers impacted by this, causing job disruptions or job losses.

Eligibility is another issue. For example, certain industries might have margins which are too small, or it will be too risky, with disrupted supply chains. Many will no doubt miss out. The fund could become equivalent to a big white elephant. Risks to crowding out private investment are also concerning. It also begs the question: if they're such great investment opportunities for the government to acquire equity, why hasn't the private sector already taken advantage of them? We must not overlook the importance of retaining ownership, especially given that many of our manufacturers are small and medium-sized family businesses.

The bill will also stifle innovation, as beneficiaries of the fund will be unlikely to invest in innovation without a guaranteed return, and this funding model does not entertain failure, which is an unfortunate reality for some firms developing capacities and engaging in innovation.

In this bill there is an inappropriate ministerial discretion, which allows the minister to appoint the chair and board members who will oversee the corporation and its funds. The government has already demonstrated in its early appointments that it cannot be trusted to make sensible, non-partisan decisions.

The bill also undermines investment certainty in national priorities, with the government changing Australia's national manufacturing priority on a whim, undermining investment decisions and eroding investment confidence. Think of all those investors in the space manufacturing industry, Mr Deputy Speaker. What are they thinking and doing now?

The government's new priorities are too vague. They strip industry policy of the focus needed to drive investment in specific sectors. This is absolutely typical of the Labor government—choosing to spray money indiscriminately instead of continuing investment certainty for our manufacturers and industry.

Finally, the bill is fiscally irresponsible, delivering funding well in excess of the coalition's Modern Manufacturing Strategy. An initial $5 billion appropriation is provided upon passage of the bill, but the timing of the remaining $10 billion will not be subject to further parliamentary approval. In fact, financial structures similar to the one underpinning this bill have drawn criticism internationally from the IMF, who stated that below the line activity through newly created investment vehicles, such as the NRF, should also be phased appropriately, and that, more broadly, a proliferation of such vehicles should be avoided.

I started a petition in my community to bring back manufacturing to this country. I think a petition to ensure that investment in our manufacturing industry continues is more important now than ever. We should certainly add 'bring back space manufacturing' because this is where the jobs of the future are for kids and communities like mine. There was an international airport being built down the road and all this investment already lined up for an industry that has just now been stripped away. So I think having a petition is important, getting people behind it in Western Sydney and continuing the fight because Australia deserves a strong manufacturing industry. I couldn't speak more strongly in opposing this bill.

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