Gladys Liu (Chisholm, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week it was absolutely fantastic to show my good friend the Minister for Industry, Science and Technology, Karen Andrews, the Box Hill headquarters and manufacturing facilities of Planet Innovation, one of Australia's most promising healthcare companies. Planet Innovation creates breakthrough products and commercially successful businesses that transform industries and have a positive impact on the world. The company employs over 300 Australians, including experts in research, design, engineering and manufacturing.

It's companies like Planet Innovation and the Australians they employ that are set to benefit from the Morrison government's $1.3 billion Modern Manufacturing Initiative. The initiative specifically identifies medical products as one of the six national manufacturing priorities that this government will pursue in order to, among other things, better commercialise Australian research and integrate our manufacturing into global supply chains. This just makes sense. Quality medical products are at the centre of a healthy society, and Australia's medical technology industry is truly world leading. Indeed, according to some sources, the pharmaceutical and medical products market is now Australia's largest manufacturing export, at an estimated $8.2 billion in value.

The Modern Manufacturing Initiative will help Aussie manufacturers in the medical product sector, like Planet Innovation, to scale up, become more competitive and create more Australian jobs. Funding is now available through this and other Modern Manufacturing Initiative streams. I encourage manufacturers in Chisholm and across Australia to take advantage of this unique opportunity. Dream big, and who knows what the future will hold? However, one thing in the future is certain: under a Morrison government, the future is bright for Aussie manufacturers.

I look forward to working with Planet Innovation and other local Chisholm businesses to help them grow and succeed in any way that I can. Thank you to Co-CEOs Stuart Elliott and Sam Lanyon and Marketing Director Roger Langston for inviting me to see and hear about all that you have accomplished.