Steve Georganas (Adelaide, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Treasurer. How will the Albanese Labor government's National Reconstruction Fund help address some of the challenges facing the Australian economy and drive future growth?

Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you to the member for Adelaide—an absolute champion for working people and the manufacturing industries of the great state of South Australia. This was a really important milestone, the board that the industry minister announced today for the National Reconstruction Fund. With the assistance of the finance minister, working closely with the Prime Minister and others, the industry minister has put together an absolutely first-class board. And I want to thank, as he did, the eight very distinguished and experienced Australians for agreeing to be a part of the NRF.

The National Reconstruction Fund is all about broadening and deepening our industrial base. It's a $15 billion vote of confidence in our workers, in our industries and in our country, right across manufacturing, renewables, medical, primary industries and critical minerals and in other areas as well. It's all about creating more opportunities for more people in more parts of our country. It's about laying the foundations for a stronger economy and a better future for our workers. And it's all about making our economy stronger and more resilient.

What we learned from the wasted decade, what we learned from the pandemic and what we are still learning from the war in Ukraine is that our supply chains are not resilient enough, they're not reliable enough, they're not robust enough. Because of that, we are more vulnerable than we should be to the sorts of global economic shocks that we are going through.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Treasurer will pause. The member for Barker and the member for Deakin have been continually interjecting, and we're 10 minutes into question time. We're doing things differently today. You're warned. If you interject again, for the remainder of question time, you will leave question time. The Treasurer in continuation.

Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thanks, Mr Speaker. The weakness in our supply chains has made us more vulnerable than we should be. Right around the world, countries like ours are coming to this same conclusion, and it's an opportunity for Australia as much as it's a challenge for Australia. In a global economy that puts a premium on what's reliable and high-quality, we have advantages, and the National Reconstruction Fund will help us leverage those advantages and make the most of this moment. Busted supply chains and weakness in our industrial base is one of the key reasons for the inflation we've seen in our economy. So, investing in the supply side of the economy is a key part of our plan to address cost-of-living pressures. In addition to the cost-of-living relief that we're rolling out, and getting the budget in much better nick than we inherited from those opposite, investing in the supply side is really important.

It's disappointing but not especially surprising to see those opposite try to block this investment in Australian industry.

Opposition members interjecting—

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The Treasurer will pause.

Government members interjecting—

Order! Members on my right!

Member for Macnamara, you're close to being warned. The Manager of Opposition Business, a point of order?

Paul Fletcher (Bradfield, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Government Services and the Digital Economy) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On relevance: a serial offender once again couldn't help himself. He starts talking about those opposite. It was a commendably narrowly drafted question: how will this address challenges facing the Australian economy and drive future growth? There was no invitation to compare and contrast. He should be brought back to the question.

Milton Dick (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The point of order was obviously about relevance. The Treasurer was not asked to compare and contrast, and I'm bringing him back to the question.

Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Let me put it this way. Not everybody in this parliament has learned from the wasted decade of missed opportunities and messed-up priorities. It is a fact that those opposite would rather block our progress than back our workers and industries in the defining decade ahead.