Peta Murphy (Dunkley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. How will the National Reconstruction Fund boost the Australian economy and help us to make our future here?

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

I thank the member for Dunkley for her question and for her support for manufacturing jobs in her electorate and in the other suburbs around eastern and south-eastern Melbourne.

On Saturday night, I attended, with Minister Husic and with the trade minister, Don Farrell, the food and beverage manufacturing council annual function. It was held in Sydney. One of the things that occurred all night was a queue of people to just ask: Why is this controversial? Why is it that the idea of establishing a National Reconstruction Fund of $15 billion to support Australian industry and to support Australian jobs across the food and agricultural sector, across defence, across renewables, across critical minerals and across all of these areas is the subject of division in this place?

It is a bit beyond me, because one of the lessons of the pandemic is that we need to be more self-reliant. We need to be more resilient. We are vulnerable when we don't have what we need here or don't have the capacity to stand on our own and make things here. That's why we went to the election committed to the National Reconstruction Fund. It's been supported by all of those industry bodies and by the peak business organisations. It's a simple principle. Australia has benefited over the years, and will continue to do so, from sending our resources overseas. We have an abundance of them. That gives us revenue. But, where possible, isn't it smarter to value-add here, to create jobs here, to build capacity here and to get that income and greater economic return for the products that we have?

We know that in a range of areas, including everything that goes into a battery—nickel, lithium and copper—we have things in abundance here. We have some of the most abundant supplies in the world. That's why the NRF has such broad support. An independent board will have oversight, just like with the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, and it will produce a return to government. So it's also good economics.

But those opposite are opposing it. They say no to secure jobs, no to Australian manufacturing, no to new industries and no to a future made here. It's negativity and obstruction just for the sake of it. Well, businesses big and small all support this. On Saturday night, they asked me to send a message to this parliament, and I committed to do so. They said you should get on board, get out of the way and support the National Reconstruction Fund legislation that's before this parliament and support manufacturing here. (Time expired)