Mary Aldred (Monash, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'm proud to represent the Latrobe Valley in this federal parliament, and it's a privilege I share with the great member for Gippsland, my friend and colleague. We are both passionate about standing up for the Latrobe Valley. People across Victoria owe the Latrobe Valley a debt of gratitude. The Latrobe Valley has helped set up Victoria as a manufacturing state, and it keeps our lights on today.

I was very privileged recently to speak at the Latrobe City Business Chamber following the federal budget. In the Latrobe Valley we have a quantum of heavy industry, but also an ecosystem of small to medium enterprises. I'm proud to represent people who make things with their hands and spend long hours on their feet. We make world-beating product made by world-leading people in the Latrobe Valley. At that business breakfast, those small-business owners shared with me their pain and the fact that they are running on financial and mental reserves right now, grappling with the federal budget. We had broken promises on capital gains tax, negative gearing and family trusts, and that is being felt very acutely in the Latrobe Valley by small-business owners. I want to thank those small-business people for sharing their feedback, ideas, challenges, hopes and aspirations for a better Gippsland region and a brighter future for Australia.

I also want to recognise that this week our community learned that the 75-year-old Cyclone Tools factory in Wonthaggi will be closing its doors in October, ending an era of local manufacturing and costing 15 local workers their jobs. For decades, cyclone shovels and tools have been made in Wonthaggi, and those products have been used in gardens, farms and work sites right across Australia. At its peak, the factory employed around 200 people and became an important source of employment for the town, particularly following the closure of the state coalmine back in 1968. It is an example of how the cost of energy, the cost of doing business and the cost of making and manufacturing things in Victoria and Australia right now are just becoming too much for so many businesses.

Victoria was built as a manufacturing state. Businesses like Cyclone Tools have proudly contributed to the history and legacy of manufacturing in Victoria. We should be making more things in Victoria and across Australia. I'm really sad to see this business close its doors. I want to say to the people of Wonthaggi and to the communities right across the Bass Coast: I will stand up and fight for manufacturing businesses to be able to grow and develop in our region. It's really important. I want to stand up for blue-collar workers. I'm very proud of the products and services that you provide to our regions. The coalition will back you. I will back you. You deserve better.