Ellie Whiteaker (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Western Australia is critical to the future of advanced manufacturing, clean energy and national economic security, and this Labor government is backing WA to lead that future. My state is home to the critical minerals and resources the world needs for the clean energy transition, and the Albanese Labor government is making sure we don't just dig them up and ship them out. We're building industries that can turn those resources into battery cells, solar panels, wind turbines and green metals, at home in WA.

The $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund is backing that shift. It's helping WA businesses to scale up in everything from processing critical minerals to—Senator Canavan will be pleased to hear—hydrogen and clean energy manufacturing. We're unlocking jobs right across our state, from the Pilbara to the South West, and helping local industries break into global supply chains.

And this is all part of something bigger. Last year, Labor's $22.7 billion Future Made in Australia package marked the most significant investment in nation-building industry policy in a generation. It's what unions have long fought for and it's what workers in places like my state of Western Australia have long deserved. We've moved beyond the question of if we will make things here, and now it's about how we do it—how we do it with local workers, WA materials and WA skills. It's why this government is investing in $500 million in skills and training for priority industries like manufacturing, construction, and clean energy; expanding free TAFE and supporting apprentices.

Under this government, we're not exporting opportunity; we're creating it right here. This is what a future made in Australia looks like, and it's in WA.