Andrew Wallace (Speaker) | Link to this | Hansard source

I have received a letter from the honourable Deputy Leader of the Opposition proposing that a definite matter of public importance be submitted to the House for discussion, namely:

The Government's failure to plan for a future made in Australia.

I call upon those members who approve of the proposed discussion to rise in their places.

More than the number of members required by the standing orders having risen in their places—

Richard Marles (Corio, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) | Link to this | Hansard source

In December 2013, at the very earliest moments of this government, when then Treasurer Hockey said to Holden, 'Either you're here or you're not,' began the process of goading the car industry from our shores. In that moment what happened is that we lost the most high-tech, complex manufacturing that we were undertaking in this country. At that moment we lost industrial capability, and it was perhaps the most honest and ideological moment of this government. It was when we got to actually see what they believe: flat-earth economics where they don't give a damn about people. I saw firsthand the impacts of that attitude: the loss of those jobs, what it meant to individuals and what it meant to communities, and the devastation that it brought.

At the end of the Rudd-Gillard government there was a commitment, when this government came into power, to build 12 submarines for our Navy here in Australia. At that point this government had no commitment to that at all. What you saw then was Prime Minister Abbott going and trying to shop off that promise in a way to try to close trade deals with other countries. In February 2015 we should all have been appalled at that moment when, in the empty-chair challenge that we saw on the other side, we watched Australia's single biggest procurement being tossed around the government party room like it was just a political toy. That's what they did, and it said everything about the fact that they don't care about people, they don't care about industry, they just care about politics.

We saw that again as the submarines evolved, where, as they tried to make amends in the lead-up to the 2016 election, they then did commit to building 12 subs in Australia. In order to prove that the point—or at least attempt to prove the point—they down-selected that tender to one bidder, Naval Group from France, in a way which placed our country in an appalling position of bargaining power in relation to the program. Now, six years later, we see that program come to an end, and there is no chance that we will see any submarines being built in Adelaide in the foreseeable future. That's where they have left it. It would have made an enormous difference to Australian industry.

Once again, what we have seen on that side of the chamber is the triumph of politics over industry and over people so that, by the time we get to the pandemic, there are 86,000 fewer manufacturing jobs in Australia than there were when this government came to power. When it was just a question of trying to make masks or personal protective equipment at the outset of the pandemic, they actually needed to call in the Army to operate the machines in one of the few factories which undertook that activity in this country. At that moment in time, we ranked dead last in the OECD when it came to manufacturing. What we have seen through the drift of this government is that this country just doesn't make things anymore.

The Harvard Atlas of Economic Complexity measures the degree to which economies do high-tech, sophisticated activity. It has countries like Japan, Korea and Singapore all in the top five. In many ways it is an index of modernity. Right now Australia ranks 86th on that index, and we've been falling down it under this government. We are sandwiched between Paraguay and Uzbekistan—that is the legacy of this government after nine years when it comes to manufacturing and industry in this country. We need to climb the technological ladder. We need to close the gap between us and the cutting edge of modernity in the world, because where lies modernity lies prosperity and, might I also say, from a Labor point of view, lies the best distribution of income, because that's where lies the best jobs, which provide the most secure employment, which pay the best wages. And it's the absence of that which is why we've seen wages stagnate in the last nine years—it has been the stand-out statistic of the economy during the last nine years—and why we have seen productivity go through the floor.

We produce science at a rate commensurate with the size of our economy, but, under this government, we are amongst the worst commercialisers of science in the OECD. The National Reconstruction Fund is an initiative by an Albanese Labor government, if given the opportunity to govern at the upcoming election, which will seek to make a change to this, seek to create a future made in Australia, seek to invest in businesses which do help us climb the technological ladder—looking at areas of commercialisation of science and technology where Australia can reasonably expect to lead the world, or be in those top few countries in the world, in that area. We have a vision about creating industry in this country, we have a vision about creating high-tech manufacturing and sophisticated services, and we have a vision about closing the gap between Australia and the cutting edge of modernity. This government has done precious little on all of that. All they have been responsible for is drift. It's as a result of that that, despite them crowing about headline job statistics, the fact of the matter is that, in this country today, there are still 1.5 million Australians looking for work. People are either unemployed or underemployed. It's in the jobs that are generated by this government's economy that we see high rates of casualisation and high rates of employment in the gig economy, and that is where we're seeing low productivity. We now see almost a million Australians requiring two jobs in order to make ends meet. If we're going to climb that technological ladder, we need to deal with the skills crisis which this government has also presided over.

The experience of having had the international border closed has demonstrated to the nation that we are simply not training enough of our own. And so we have a situation today where there are 70,000 fewer trainees and apprentices than there were at the time that this government took office. Think about that. In the last nine years the economy has grown and in the last nine years population has grown, and yet we have fewer trainees and apprentices today than we did nine years ago. The reason for that is that this mob cut $3 billion out of the VET sector. That's what happened. As a result of that, during the six years of the Rudd-Gillard government, we saw a million Australians gain an apprenticeship or a traineeship. And yet, in the last six years of this government, we have seen about half of that number. That is the legacy of the drift and indolence of the government in their failure to actually act on the question of skills. They have a presided over a skills crisis in this country. You cannot speak to a business, big or small, around the nation who isn't desperately struggling to find the people they need, to find the skills that they require. And why is that? Because this is a government which was asleep at the wheel.

In contrast, if elected, an Albanese Labor government will put in place a $1.2 billion Future Made in Australia Skills Plan, which will see that anybody seeking to study a course which is in an area of skills shortage will be able to do that study at TAFE for free. That's what we will do, because that is actually a plan to deal with the skills crisis which this country now faces—a $1.2 billion commitment to put our country on a very different trajectory to deal with the fact that we are facing a crisis in this nation by virtue of a government that has been characterised by nothing other than drift for the last nine years.

The pandemic has been something of a report card for our country. It has been a moment to take stock. It really does give rise, I think, to the single biggest opportunity that we have as a nation to reimagine the country. The breadth of action on behalf of government is much greater. In a sense, that in turn means that the next three years will be the most significant term of government that any of us live through. It will determine the question as to whether we take that opportunity as a nation or whether we do not. It means that this election is more important than any election that any of us would have gone through.

So there is a very clear choice at that election. It's a choice between a government adrift, which has led us down a cul-de-sac of low productivity, of stagnant wages, of falling manufacturing and of declining living standards, and an Albanese Labor government, which will take this moment in time to reimagine Australia and put us on a course to greater prosperity in the future.

Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party, Minister for Industry, Energy and Emissions Reduction) | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm delighted to talk about Australian manufacturing, and it's worth starting with some facts. Under those opposite, when they were last in power, we saw one in eight manufacturing jobs destroyed in this country. There are graveyards everywhere. In fact, recently I was up at Kurri Kurri, where we're building a new gas generator to make sure that our manufacturers have the affordable, reliable energy they need. What we see there is the former Norsk Hydro site, a graveyard for an aluminium smelter that left when those opposite were in power.

Here's the contrast. We have the unemployment rate on its way to having a '3' in front of it. Over 13 million Australians are in work today, and 220,000 are trade apprentices. We know the enormous role that manufacturing is playing in that. That's the highest number of trade apprentices since the data began—since the 1960s. We have seen strong manufacturing business growth. Indeed, business is increasing. Manufacturing business increased by 3.3 per cent in 2021. We've had 3,300 new manufacturing businesses come into the marketplace. Of those businesses, we've seen strong balance sheets. Manufacturing contributes an extra $13.5 billion to GDP than when we came into office in 2013 and an extra $5.7 billion since the last election. These are the facts. Those opposite like to ignore it. They like to talk down Australian manufacturing. I like to recognise it for the strong, important sector that it is. Australian manufacturing exports are worth an extra $33.7 billion than when we came into office.

Right at the heart of this is our Modern Manufacturing Strategy. It's a $1.5 billion strategy, with $925 million of that now in committed projects. This is all part of a broad-ranging support for making sure we've got an environment where manufacturing can prosper in this country, getting the economic conditions right for business. That includes lower taxes—something those opposite will never be able to do; they don't believe in it—and delivering affordable, reliable energy. Energy prices doubled under those opposite. That's why the Norsk Hydro smelter at Kurri Kurri went: because energy wasn't affordable. We've seen it come down 12 per cent for industry in the last two years. It doubled under those opposite.

We're making science and technology work for industry and for jobs. You've recently seen the announcement of $2 billion to make sure we do see that commercialisation of great Australian research. We're focusing on areas of advantage: food and beverage, clean energy, cyber and defence, critical minerals—the Minister for Resources and Water knows what a great opportunity that is for Australia. In fact, I was speaking with a range of my ministerial colleagues from around the world—from Europe, in particular—just last week about the criticality of critical minerals. The Europeans want to move towards different sources of energy, away from Russian gas. That's understandable, but, if they are to make sure they have control over their own destiny, they need supply chains they can trust in lithium, cobalt, nickel and copper. We can provide that here from Australia, and we are doing exactly that.

On medical technologies: we've recently made a major investment in mRNA manufacturing in this country, in Victoria. We are on our way to being a world leader in mRNA technology and mRNA manufacturing. That joint venture, that partnership, with Moderna is right at the heart of it. This is all about building national resilience for a strong economy.

I spoke about the modern manufacturing strategy, which includes $925 million of funding, and I want to give a couple of examples of that, because they're instructive. They give you a sense of what enormous opportunity there is for Australian manufacturing. Indeed, last week, I was on the Gold Coast, and I got a chance to visit Gilmour Space. In fact, we're investing $51 million in the Australian Space Manufacturing Network, and this business is going to use that network, that platform, to get satellites up into orbit faster than would otherwise be the case. I always used to think that the only countries in the world that could put satellites up into space were big countries like the United States, Russia and China, but Australia is doing it. We are doing it, and we are manufacturing those satellites and rockets right there on the Gold Coast. We are investing $51 million into that fantastic manufacturing opportunity for Australia, where we are showing leadership. We have one of the world's leading technologies in rockets to get those satellites up into orbit.

I was down at Port Kembla a couple of weeks ago. There is $55 million for the Advanced Steel Manufacturing Precinct at Port Kembla, upgrading the plate mill and providing the steel that is capable of giving us the defence vehicles, the armoured vehicles, that we need and the inputs into those armoured vehicles, from Port Kembla—not far from where we are right here today. There is a $55 million investment in that important project.

There is $61 million for the Australian Genomic Cancer Medicine Centre. This is all about adapting molecules to mutations—making sure that we can develop the molecule that is a precise, personalised medicine for an individual, to make sure that they have the molecule they need to deal with the cancer they have. We don't just think about breast cancer; we think about the many different variants of it and the molecules we can manufacture right here in this country to deal with that breast cancer. There's a personal element to this for me: I lost my mother almost 35 years ago to breast cancer, and this technology can save lives like hers—lives that are lost way too early. This investment, $61 million in medical technology, is exactly the kind of manufacturing opportunity that combines technology and the intellectual smarts of Australia's very best and smartest with our manufacturing capability.

There is $45 million for Alpha HPA. This is high purity alumina. Up in Gladstone, right next to the Yarwun site, high purity alumina is being produced that can be used in LED lighting and batteries, in a joint venture with Orica and Rio Tinto—who own Yarwun—to make sure we can produce, at lower cost than competitors around the world—including the Chinese—high purity alumina.

Those opposite like to talk a big game on manufacturing, but we need to look at their track record. One in eight jobs were lost when they were last in power. Over 37,000 jobs in manufacturing were lost in their last year in power. Manufacturing businesses' profits fell by over 17 per cent in their last term in office, and they doubled the cost of energy. How did they do that? There were two things they did: the carbon tax and over-investment in the poles and wires. And you know what? They are planning to do it all over again. They've got a sneaky carbon tax they're imposing: a 25 per cent emission reduction requirement on the 215 largest energy users in Australia. Our aluminium smelters, our fertiliser manufacturers and our refineries are going to have this sneaky carbon tax imposed on them. They're going to do it all over again. They've done it before; they'll do it again.

The extraordinary thing is: they're going to do exactly the same thing with transmission. They are going to ask for $80 billion of investment in non-priority transmission projects. These aren't the ones we're investing in, which are prioritised now under the ISP. These are ones that are low-priority projects. Someone needs to pay for that $80 billion, and they have not explained to anyone who's going to pay for it. We know who'll pay for it, because we know who always pays for it under Labor: middle Australia, in their electricity prices. And that is how they devastated manufacturing when they were last in power. That is how they saw aluminium smelters closing when they were last in power. That is how they saw the steel industry going backwards when they were last in power. They're going to do it all over again. Labor just doesn't learn.

We are the party focused on those blue-collar jobs in manufacturing. We are the party focused on the needs of Australians. to make sure that we manufacture in this country the products we need. We have the track record, we have the focus and we are absolutely committed to it.

Ed Husic (Chifley, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Industry and Innovation) | Link to this | Hansard source

That was an utterly shameless display from industry minister No. 7½—he's not No. 8, because he wasn't given the full job to focus on; it was split with energy. And he's not even paying attention, because he couldn't give that speech one month ago, where he was talking about different projects and rattling off the money that they're worth. He couldn't do it a month ago, he couldn't do it two months ago and he couldn't do it three months ago. He's talking about a program, which we support—the Modern Manufacturing Initiative—that was announced in October 2020. It was announced with fanfare, and it was announced with funding of $1.5 billion.

But guess what? Up until February, only $85 million of a $1.5 billion scheme was actually out the door. And we had said, last year, that they were holding back the announcements, that they were going to turn this into a slush fund. We'd seen it with sports rorts, with road rorts, with the regional funding rorts and with car park rorts, and now they were doing it with something as important to the economy as manufacturing. But they said: 'No, no, no; that won't happen—not at all. No, Labor's got it all wrong. Why are they so critical of us doing this to support manufacturing?'

Then the industry minister turns up in South Australia to make an announcement that he's going to support the space industry—and it was purely coincidence that it was mentioned just a week or two before the South Australian state election! There it was, all of a sudden, and then suddenly we got this announcement on steel, and we got these other announcements on space—because, as is always the case with this government, it's not about doing the right thing for everyone else; it's about doing the right thing for them. It's about turning taxpayer dollars into a slush fund so they can then go and rattle off all these announcements, so they can go and get media coverage after media coverage after media coverage.

Why is this a bad thing? It's inherently a good thing to have that money invested in manufacturing. When they did announce it, a lot of people cheered it on. But it didn't take too long for industry to come back and ask us, 'Why has it taken so long to make a decision?' They won't say it publicly, because they're scared witless that this vindictive, mean government will target them and not support their application. But you should be putting the money in earlier. As the deputy leader rightly pointed out, when the pandemic hit and we were struck, we had to rethink the nation. We couldn't get the things we needed or wanted in time. Countries all over the globe are rethinking manufacturing, and this mob decides, 'We're not going to rebuild at the earliest opportunity; we're going to rebuild at the best opportunity electorally for us'—which is just wrong. They're always late, they always underdeliver, but they're always on time for an announcement that suits them. And that is plain wrong.

We on this side know that manufacturing is an important component of the Australian economy. Australians get that we should be a country that makes things, because that's a sign of economic health. It's also, importantly, a sign of a good, secure nation that can get the things that it needs at the time that it needs them. When we are dead-last among OECD countries in manufacturing self-sufficiency, that is not a healthy sign. And it's not a good sign when the jobs contract, which we've seen, or when only 67 per cent of what we use is being manufactured in this nation.

All those big announcements—and just to restate it: between October 2020 and February 2022 the Morrison-Joyce government committed $292 million out of the $1.5 billion MMS at an average of $583,000 a day, and last week they announced, via The Australian, that they'd committed $925.7 million. That means that in the 38 days since 14 February they've committed $633 million of the MMS—not in time for the economy but in time for them. That is an absolute disgrace.

On our side, manufacturing is not a fad; it is a fact of life. So many of us have families that owe jobs to manufacturing. We represent communities where manufacturing is a big deal. It means something. It is not a slogan. It's not something where you just jump up one day and try to create some sort of news—like we had with industry minister No. 7½. We believe that Australia can make things, we believe it should make things, but it should not have to tolerate a government turning manufacturing into a plaything.

Keith Pitt (Hinkler, National Party, Minister for Resources and Water) | Link to this | Hansard source

I knew that if I waited long enough the opportunity would come, I knew if I waited long enough there'd be a purpose and I knew if I waited long enough it would provide something useful. It's finally happened, and I've got to thank the Deputy Leader of the Opposition: I've found a purpose for Twitter. The claims by the Deputy Leader of the Opposition about apprentices and trainees, I knew I'd heard before. An ABC fact check on Twitter classifies it as a four-letter word: spin.

The facts are these. There are roughly 220,000 trade apprentices in employment right now, the highest number we've had since 1963, since records began. As a former tradesman, and I guess I still am, I'm very proud of that. I think it's a very wise investment in Australia's future, in providing Australia's youth an opportunity. We will continue to build the strong economy that Australia needs, into the future, because a strong economy is a strong future for all Australians.

In my own portfolio, critical minerals is a growing demand, a growing need, and we can deliver for the Australian people in that critical minerals demand. If we look at the resources sector overall, it has put on almost 40,000 jobs since the pandemic started. It hit a record level of $356 billion in exports of energy resources last financial year. It's forecast to hit $379 billion this year. I'll give you a hot tip: I think it's going to smash it. I think it will absolutely smash all records. That is great for our economy. It's great news for those looking for employment. It's great news for people who want to pay their own way. We will continue to build in the critical minerals sector because it's another strand of our economy. It's another area where we can build opportunity and provide employment.

Mr Deputy Speaker O'Brien, I know that you, the member for Page, the member for Cowper and a number of other members, on both sides of the House, have had some real challenges with natural disasters in recent times, and the support that's provided by the Commonwealth—the support we use to build the infrastructure and essential services that all Australians rely on, whether that is roads, schools, hospitals, dams or other linking infrastructure—needs to be paid for. And to make those payments, to ensure that we can continue to provide those services and that support, we need to build our economy. It needs to get bigger. We need to have greater opportunities, because it is the royalties paid by the resources sector and the taxes paid by the people employed in that sector and the companies in that sector that deliver these essential services through many levels of government.

In the critical minerals sector, we're investing $200 million in the Critical Minerals Accelerator Initiative. We know that there is demand but we also know that there is practically a monopoly provider in this space. There is a monopoly provider in one country. That is in no-one's interest. If we wish to build new opportunities, if we want to build new logistics and supply chains, if we want to ensure that the demand of the future is met—and we absolutely want to do that; I want to ensure that as much as possible comes from this country—we need to invest in these new projects and operations.

We have $250 million on the table through this initiative. This will ensure that we can build strategically significant early- and mid-stage projects to overcome those technical and market challenges. This is a difficult space. A lot of the IP is held by the monopoly country and those operating in that nation. It needs to be built. We need proof of concept. We have to ensure that it works. If we want to build from minerals downstream to metals and be into markets with like-minded democracies, whether the US, Japan, South Korea, India or others, we have to demonstrate that we can deliver what they need. There's $200 million there.

We have $50 million committed to the virtual National Critical Minerals Research and Development Centre because we know we need that R&D, and we are working closely with CSIRO, ANSTO, Geoscience Australia and industry, and we've established a $2 billion critical minerals facility. We've already provided two loans from that facility for $239 million, for spherical graphite projects in South Australia and Western Australia, and $243 million from the Modern Manufacturing Strategy for four critical minerals projects. That is how we'll continue to strengthen our economy, build a stronger nation, pay for all the essential services and make our nation safe and secure into the future.

What those opposite are proposing is simply nonsense. We have a growing sector of the economy right across the resources sector. We have a growing sector of the economy in critical minerals and opportunities. We know that we will continue to invest in manufacturing. We are building the skills that this nation needs. Two hundred and twenty thousand trade apprentices is a great result. I look forward to seeing every single one of them finish their time and get into the workforce proper and continue to deliver for themselves and their nation.

Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Education) | Link to this | Hansard source

In recent days we heard from the Prime Minister that he is very proud of the eight budgets he has been a part of—the three as Treasurer and the four as Prime Minister. That tells you all you need to know about the problems with this country's education system. It's no wonder we've run up a trillion dollars of debt on this Prime Minister's watch, if he thinks three and four equals eight. It actually points to a deeper problem in our education system and one of the critical handbrakes on productivity growth in this country.

When you look at our schools, TAFES, universities, even from early childhood education and care, we need every part of this education system to be excellent so that our children, as they grow into adults, can participate in our economy in a way that adds not only to their own lives and prosperity but to our national prosperity too.

In 2018 Australian students recorded their worst result in reading, maths and science since international testing began. The average 15-year-old is now 12 months behind the average in reading compared to where we were in the year 2000. We know that, if kids don't get the basics under their belt by the age of about eight, they struggle throughout their lives. It is a handbrake on their own prosperity. But think of what that does to the national economy, when we let down millions of children in this way.

Our deputy leader spoke about the attacks that those opposite have made on apprenticeships, traineeships, vocational education and TAFE. So I'll go to universities. We know that when we invest in universities we see a 200 to 300 per cent return on that investment because we educate our people. We know that, for men, there is still an $800,000 graduate premium on their lifetime salaries; for women, a $600,000 graduate premium on their lifetime salaries; and, for our nation, a 200 to 300 per cent return on investment. What have those opposite done? They've had the highest turn-away rates from universities ever; more kids are being turned away than ever before. Forty thousand staff and 7,000 researchers have lost their jobs. What does that do not just to those staff but to our ability as a nation to discover, invent and take that research and turn it into businesses and jobs for the future?

Labor, in contrast, has a plan. We know that to be wealthy and successful as a nation, we need to build things, make things, care for people and invest in our people so that they have the skills and education to drive our prosperity. That's why we have a plan for 465,000 free TAFE places, including 45,000 extra places in areas of skills shortage, and another 20,000 university places. We have a plan for fair school funding so that every school is on the path to meet 100 per cent of the schooling resource standard, its fair funding level. There will be a $400 million-plus student wellbeing boost and a youth mental health check for primary schools kids so that they can be directed to the supports they need after the shocking few years they've had. There will be more counsellors and social workers. There will be school upgrades, because we know that our schools have been run down, particularly our public schools, with the lack of investment from those opposite. They have turned their backs on the two-thirds of kids who go to public schools in Australia. We have a plan for an eSmart Digital Licence to make sure that our primary and secondary schoolchildren have the literacy skills for the 21st century and the digital skills they need to be successful in the world that we're living in today.

The plan includes a start-up year to mentor 2,000 young innovators to start a business straight out of university. There will be new energy apprenticeships to make sure apprentices are trained in the new energy jobs of the future. We will be making sure they are able to complete their training, with $100 million to support 10,000 new energy apprenticeships and an Australian skills guarantee so that one in every 10 jobs on Commonwealth government funded projects actually goes to apprentices and trainees. That is what a future 'Made in Australia' would look like. That is what we need to do to make sure our people and our country are ready for the future.

Anne Webster (Mallee, National Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

Manufacturing is strong in this country; it's critical to our plan for a strong economy and a strong future for Australia. Our government has now committed over $925 million of funding under our Modern Manufacturing Strategy, with over 185 transformational projects leveraging over $2.5 billion of co-investment. This is driving new manufacturing activity, strengthening our sovereign capability and creating more jobs—and there is more to come. In Mallee alone, two businesses have received support from the Modern Manufacturing Fund round 2. One is Australian Eatwell—and I spoke to Nathan Harris, who was excited to receive $750,000 for non-soy tofu, which is an expansion project for them. And True Foods, a rapidly growing commercial bakery with 200 employees who make wraps and flatbreads, received $1 million.

These kinds of investment by this side of the House have been imperative to see growth in our manufacturing businesses. As we secure our economic recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, we want to see our manufacturing industry continue to grow even stronger. Our $1.5 billion Modern Manufacturing Strategy is a plan to do just that. It is based on four key principles. The first key principle is to get the economic conditions right for business, which includes delivering affordable and reliable energy. The second key principle is to make science and technology work for industry and for jobs. The third key principle is research and innovation, with areas of focus like new energy technologies. I am really pleased to say that the government has invested in a very exciting solar-hydro project at Carwarp in my electorate of Mallee. We are focusing on areas of advantage with six national manufacturing priorities including medical products, defence, and food and beverage manufacturing in Mallee. Critical minerals are also very available in Mallee, and clean energy and space. The fourth key principle is to build national resilience for a strong economy, making supply chains more resilient and supporting diversification.

It's all about the government backing our manufacturers to back themselves. It sends a clear signal to the industry, and businesses are very happy about it. We will keep delivering for Australian manufacturers to create new jobs by supporting them to take on new apprenticeships and trainees with our JobTrainer initiative, with up to 350,000 in this budget in total; expanding tax relief; removing unnecessary red tape, which is a very welcome process; delivering a record infrastructure investment pipeline; expanding opportunities in the digital economy; and opening new export markets. This is a critical point for our primary producers in Mallee, who export all over the world. We are underpinning renewed housing construction—and there is so much of that going on in Mallee now. We are locking in affordable and reliable energy that manufacturers can count on, and encouraging them to purchase new equipment they need to scale up by extending the instant asset write-off. All these things are possible because of the coalition government in power. These things have happened because we on this side are very keen to ensure business thrives.

We are backing Australian innovation and ingenuity to ensure that we can secure our economic recovery with Australian manufacturing at its core. We are creating the environment to support rapid growth in Australian manufacturing. We have seen unemployment reach its lowest level since 2008, with over 13 million Australians in work. There are now 220,350 trade apprentices currently in training, the highest level of apprentices in trade training since records began in Australia in 1963. We have seen strong business growth with a number of manufacturing businesses increasing by 3.3 per cent through to 2021, with an extra 3,000 manufacturing businesses since the last election. (Time expired)

Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Foreign Affairs (House)) | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to talk on this very important matter, and that is, of course, a future made in Australia. We need an economy and a labour market that is sustainable, that provides opportunities for workers in this country and opportunities for businesses, but which also ensures that we are able to stand on our own two feet. If anything, the pandemic has exposed the failure of this government in what it has done to manufacturing.

In fact, I recall that in December 2013, only months after winning office, the Treasurer of the country goaded Holden to leave our shores—firstly threatening them by taking away the support that was provided by the previous government and then goading the company to leave our shores. They promptly did, and with them they took those jobs and those skills. What that did, of course, was very much undermine our economy and our labour market. That was the most sophisticated sector of our economy when it came to manufacturing skills, and it was a dreadful shame to see that happen. That happened within a few months of the election of this government, and of course that wasn't going to be the end of it.

In the 2014 budget we saw the abolition of Labor's manufacturing plan. They removed entirely the plan that was put in place to engage with the manufacturing sector to actually use government leverage in order to ensure the enlarging of manufacturing. We saw that happen because of their disregard and enmity towards the sector. They were not interested in the sector that was actually making things in this country. I tell you what, they got more joy out of it when they realised it might have been a unionised company that was hitting the wall. This is a government that did not support and has not supported manufacturing in this country. It has only been recently, since the pandemic, that they've started to mouth the word 'manufacturing'. In fact, they brought back in name only the manufacturing plan that they abolished in 2014. I recall they also abolished the instant asset tax write-off in 2014 and had to bring it back. They pretend it's their own idea, but of course they abolished it in 2014. It was providing support to small businesses at the time.

Who can forget the forgettable minister, David Johnston, who said, famously—he was the first defence minister of this government; in fact, he was the first of six defence ministers of this government—that Australian industry couldn't build a canoe. That was the sentiment of this government towards the defence industry and towards manufacturing. When you have a cabinet minister saying that our manufacturing sector couldn't build a canoe, what message does it send to those businesses and those workers who have worked so hard to deliver defence assets to this country? It says everything about the government's disregard and hostility towards manufacturing in this country. We need to see defence industry increase so that we can be more resilient and provide opportunities.

It should be seen by those opposite that the defence industry in and of itself is a defence asset because we need to be able to build more and maintain more defence assets in a world that, of course, is increasingly less stable and where the risks have increased. We have not seen the government prepare for that industry to deliver the assets. For all of the rhetoric of the government in relation to these changes to the threats to this country, we have not seen the delivery of defence assets. We've seen a lot of discussion about what might happen in 2038, whether it be increased personnel or actually delivering under AUKUS—which Labor supports. But where's the increased firepower to existing assets today? Where are the decisions to actually ensure that our current platforms have better firepower to act as a deterrent in times that are less stable than they were? Frankly, for all the rhetoric, there's a yawning gap between what the Prime Minister and the defence minister say and what they deliver. Why is that? One of the reasons is that they have allowed the defence industry to be impoverished and have not provided sufficient support, whether it be in skills or in other areas of public policy.

Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Youth and Employment Services) | Link to this | Hansard source

Let me point out a few facts before the shadow defence minister leaves the chamber and for those listening. This is the man who, in an uncertain time, wants to replace Peter Dutton as Australia's defence minister. Let me give you some facts. When the shadow defence minister was last in office, for six years, do you know how many ships they built under naval shipbuilding in Australia? Zero. No wonder the first defence minister who came in said they couldn't build a canoe, because they'd built no ships. The coalition government, since we've been elected and I've been elected, has built 70 naval ships. It is not the time to go to that shadow defence minister and leave Peter Dutton. It is not the time to go to the opposition leader, Anthony Albanese, from the Prime Minister.

Let me also give those listening some facts on Labor's record in manufacturing. On Labor's watch, the last time they were in government, manufacturing exports fell by 13 per cent. On Labor's watch, last time they were in government, manufacturing business profits—and they need a profit to employ people—fell by 17.4 per cent in their last term of office and over 110,000 apprentices were lost in a single year. That's their record. Don't talk about to us rhetoric! In Labor's term in office, 6,800 manufacturing businesses closed their doors and over 37,300 manufacturing jobs were lost in Labor's last year in office.

Right now we have Labor candidates running around this country with 'Australian made' symbols on their brochures. I mean, really? Look at their record. The coalition government, under the leadership of Prime Minister Scott Morrison, has seen manufacturing increased by over 20 per cent in the last three years alone. There were 800,000 jobs in manufacturing at the last election in 2019; there are now over one million jobs in manufacturing.

The choice that Australians will be making at the federal election in a few weeks time will be clear. I would say to the Australian people and the people of my electorate that the Australian government, led by Prime Minister Scott Morrison, has a plan for a strong economy, a stronger Australia and unlocking a new generation of high-wage, high-skill, high-tech jobs through manufacturing. We've committed over $925 million to manufacturing projects here in Australia alone, leveraging the confidence of businesses to co-invest over $2.5 billion. And what do we see? We see unemployment at four per cent. Youth unemployment has fallen below 10 per cent.

As the Assistant Minister for Youth and Employment Services, I'm really proud to be part of a government that has seen more people in work. We've seen welfare dependency fall to 15 per cent; under Labor, it was over 16.5 per cent. That's important because we want Australians to be able to provide for themselves. We want Australians to be able to own their first home. We've got schemes in place for young people not just in Petrie but right through Australia—for 25- to 35-year-olds who are looking to buy their first place, or maybe those even younger. We have schemes like the First Home Super Saver Scheme, which allows you to save at 15 per cent rather than 32.5 per cent. Those opposite voted against it when we put that through the parliament. We have schemes like the First Home Loan Deposit Scheme, which the Treasurer will speak more about in the budget tonight.

They're the facts on manufacturing and the statistics that Labor can't escape. They can go on all they want about Australian made and everything else. The reality is they've got a very poor record when it comes to Australian made and buying Australian first.

I'd say to people in my electorate: 'Please purchase Australian made. Please purchase it. Please go out there and do that.' We've got a modern manufacturing fund that is supporting more manufacturing jobs in the country. In my own electorate, we've seen local businesses like Kingswood Cabinets basically triple their turnover in the time that we've been in government. In the last seven or eight years, they've tripled their turnover. They're hiring more apprentices, thanks to the boosting apprenticeships scheme. We've got businesses like Brisbane Isuzu, who, for over 20 years, have proudly powered other local businesses and manufacturers with their Isuzu trucks in Brisbane, located in my electorate. They have strong local manufacturing opportunities and strong balance sheets, and they're family owned. There are businesses like Big Rigs, who manufacture as well for the back of those trucks. The coalition has jobs' and Australians' backs when it comes to manufacturing. (Time expired)

Lisa Chesters (Bendigo, Australian Labor Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

This government has failed. It has failed to plan for a future made in Australia. This government has failed Australian manufacturing. Fact. There were 86,000 fewer manufacturing jobs in February 2022 than there were when Labor was in government. That's a fact. The examples of that are obvious and everywhere. In defence manufacturing, there isn't a defence manufacturing and procurement project this government has not stuffed up. That's the reality. Whether it be submarines or whether it be shipping, thousands of jobs are at risk. In my own electorate, there's the Hawkei project. There are Hawkeis lined up on the lawns at the Thales manufacturing facility in Bendigo that this government has not picked up. It has not paid the bill. They are sitting there waiting. The staff there—the highly skilled workers—bring them in routinely to make sure that they are fit and ready to be picked up. That project finishes when this government is in caretaker mode. That project, that build, will finish in June 2022. The future of that site under this government is unknown. We don't know what is going to happen to that manufacturing facility on this government's watch.

These are not the only jobs that are at risk or have gone because of this government. During the pandemic, manufacturers switched. They listened to the national call to make masks, to make ventilators and to make the medical technology that we need to survive the pandemic. A few months later, those contracts dried up and disappeared. As supply chains in China and parts of South-East Asia opened up, jobs disappeared, and contracts disappeared. GlaxoSmithKline, a pharmaceutical manufacturer in Melbourne, announced that they would be closing their doors, in the middle of a pandemic. We have seen pharmaceutical manufacturers close their doors or announce that they're going to close their doors. That's 300 highly skilled manufacturing jobs lost in Melbourne. Pfizer in Perth have announced that they are closing their facility. They're closing their facility on this government's watch. What are the government doing to protect the highly skilled, highly paid jobs we have today? For all the rhetoric and all the press releases, they are not doing enough to secure the jobs we have today and plan for a future made in Australia.

The government boasts about its funds that it had for food manufacturing, yet manufacturers in my electorate missed out. It boasts about the ability to double jobs in food manufacturing, yet manufacturers didn't even get a return call when they asked why they weren't successful. There are supply chain failures in this country. The costs of building supplies have gone through the roof. There is a lot of boasting about how we're going to build our way out of this pandemic through the recovery, yet we haven't secured the supply chains in this country. Homes are not being built, because we don't have enough timber. Steel costs for home construction have gone up by as much as 80 per cent in two years. That's why we're starting to see builders go broke. That's why we're starting to see families' hearts broken, because their dream homes will not be built. We're being told by window manufacturers and makers that there are rations, that they are receiving quotas of what steel they can have, because we have not done enough in this country to secure supply chains and make here in Australia. Cost blowouts, because of this magnitude, will lead to putting jobs in jeopardy and putting projects in jeopardy, and yet this government doesn't have a plan on how to secure supply chains.

Labor does. Not only have we announced that we, in government, will have a national manufacturing plan; we'll also have a defence development strategy to try and fix up the mess that this government has created. Thousands of workers' futures are at risk because this government has not secured defence manufacturing properly. We've announced a buy Australia plan, where we will establish Commonwealth procurement rules and a future made-in-Australia office. That's so we can get the policy settings right in government and so we can buy here first and never have a situation where we ask our manufacturers and med tech to change what they're doing and to manufacture what we need only for those contracts to dry up six months later. Australian taxpayer dollars should be spent on buying Australian made first. This government has an opportunity, at every turn, to make sure that we purchase locally.

I will finish with another one from my electorate. Defence uniforms could be made in Bendigo—the dress uniforms—but they went overseas because the contractor found a cheaper place to manufacture overseas. It could be done in Bendigo, securing 120 jobs in my electorate. That's a missed opportunity on this government's watch. (Time expired)

Angie Bell (Moncrieff, Liberal National Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm incredibly proud that it was manufacturing jobs that gave me my opportunities in life. Both my grandfathers, my father and my two brothers were at General Motors Holden in South Australia. My mother was at Levi Strauss in the manufacturing hub of Elizabeth, built by Sir Thomas Playford, the great Liberal and Country League Premier.

I understand how important this is to Australia's economy and sovereignty, and I reject the rhetoric coming from those opposite on this topic today. The Prime Minister and the minister for industry know how important manufacturing is to our country and to our sovereignty. The Morrison government is focused on the present and a future filled with manufacturing. That's why we have the $1.5 billion modern manufacturing fund that was developed and announced on the Gold Coast at Neumann Steel in Currumbin by the Prime Minister and my Gold Coast colleague the former minister for industry, the member for MacPherson and now the Minister for Home Affairs.

Our government has now committed over $925 million of funding under our Modern Manufacturing Strategy for over 185 transformational projects leveraging over $2.5 billion dollars of co-investment. The key pillars of the strategy are getting the economic conditions right for business. This includes delivering affordable and reliable energy; making science and technology work for industry and for jobs; aligning our research and innovation with our areas of focus, like new energy technologies; focusing on areas of advantage with our six National Manufacturing Priorities, including medical products, defence, food and beverage manufacturing, critical minerals, clean energy and space; building national resilience for a strong economy; and making supply chains more resilient and supporting diversification.

The modern manufacturing fund rollout to assist Australian manufacturers to update their processes, their equipment, their capability and their output continues today across the country and, can I say, across my hometown of the Gold Coast. Manufacturing contributes an extra $13.5 billion to GDP compared to when we came to office in 2013, and an extra $5.7 billion since the last election. More than one million Australians now work in manufacturing. That is 200,000 more than at the 2019 election—20 per cent more than at the last election.

Those opposite destroyed one in eight jobs under their watch. Australians cannot trust those opposite in a Labor-Greens government with their livelihoods. There is a clear choice at the next election. If Australians choose a Labor-Greens government at the next election they will be a threat to Australian jobs. They will be a threat to our economy. They will be a threats to the cost of living. They will be a threat to rising interest rates and they will be a threat to our country's future. A Labor-Greens government will impose a carbon tax, and Australians remember well what happened last time when one in eight manufacturing jobs were destroyed by the Labor government. On the Gold Coast, the latest figures I have from Regional Development Australia Gold Coast outline that manufacturing now contributes $8.3 billion to the Gold Coast economy. It's grown local jobs from 14,000 to 22,800. That's significant. That is actually currently larger than any other industry.

Ross Vasta (Bonner, Liberal Party) | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The discussion has concluded.