Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Electric buses, windows, doors, trucks, coffee and masks: this is what Aussie made is in my electorate of Lindsay. Like 97 per cent of Australians, we know that Aussie made means local jobs. Ninety-five per cent of us know it also means high-quality products. But now is the time that we put that knowledge into action and actually buy Aussie made.

Local businesses have been doing it tough over the pandemic. But, thanks to the hard work of Australians keeping each other safe and getting vaccinated—proudly, my electorate is into the nineties for first doses—we're opening up and businesses are getting back to doing what they do best. That's great news for our economy, and every Australian who wants high-quality, safe, homegrown, locally made products that support businesses to create and sustain more local jobs.

People in my electorate of Lindsay know this well, because we're in the heart of Western Sydney, and Western Sydney is the heartbeat of Australian manufacturing. There are almost 700 manufacturers in my community, and 95 per cent of them are small businesses. I want to see this number grow. That's why I am proud to be supporting our local businesses that are employing apprentices and trainees. When I'm out and about, I see manufacturers employing young female apprentices, and they are proud of this. It's wonderful to see more women getting into these non-traditional jobs. Across Australia there are one million people employed in manufacturing. In the past year, more than 100,000 new manufacturing jobs were created in sectors like food, machinery, equipment, transport and fabricated metal production.

Something that I am really excited to see, and there is so much potential in Western Sydney, is around new manufacturing and advanced manufacturing of medical equipment. We're also supporting agribusiness. I'm also super excited that we have Sydney Science Park coming into my electorate. This will mean more kids educated and trained in STEM and taking on science, and increasing our future manufacturing capabilities in Western Sydney. So we're backing manufacturers in Western Sydney. I will always support them 100 per cent so that they can grow their businesses, buy new equipment, take on more apprentices, create more jobs, which is absolutely essential, and thrive in our new era of Australian manufacturing.

Federation Chamber adjourned at 11:09