Tracey Roberts (Pearce, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. How will the three major policies the government is progressing this week—the safeguard mechanism, the National Reconstruction Fund and the Housing Australia Future Fund—work together to build a better future for Australians?

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

I thank the member for Pearce for her question. Of course, this week we are making progress on all three of our signature policies. All three are ones that we took to the election, to the Australian people, last May, and we received a mandate for support.

The safeguard mechanism is a commonsense way to curb emissions, to give business certainty and stability, and to get us on a path to net zero. And that's why it's been supported by the Business Council of Australia, the Australian Industry Group, the Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and the Australian Conservation Foundation. I thank all member of the crossbench, in both chambers, who've been constructive about this, who know that we need to end the decade of delay and denial when it comes to climate policy.

The National Reconstruction Fund is also very important. We want renewables and cheaper energy to be built and then to flow through to advanced manufacturing in this country. We need to be a country that makes things again here. It's a matter of our national resilience. During the pandemic we received a reminder of how vulnerable we are if we're just at the end of supply chains. This is about making our future here and creating secure jobs.

The Housing Australia Future Fund is about making sure that we have investment in social and affordable housing, making sure that veterans are looked after, and making sure that women and children escaping domestic violence also receive support. It's about emergency housing as well.

These three policies all work together. Along with our other actions, they're the foundations of a better future. Safeguards are ensuring more cheap, reliable renewable power into our grid, and that cheap renewable energy is driving an Australian manufacturing boom, boosting new industries like critical minerals. They are all working together. We're training people for those jobs with 180,000 fee-free TAFE places, which are making such a big difference. When I was in the electorate of Aston last week, Mary Doyle was very supportive of our plan to train and skill up people in that community.

They also have something else in common, because those opposite say no to all three, in spite of the fact that we clearly went to an election and two of these three policies were announced as part of budget replies, when opposition leaders had policies and alternative policies for the government. Those opposite have no solutions and no ideas—just no.