Sarah Henderson (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

) ( ): I rise today to celebrate the incredible investment the Morrison government is making in homegrown Australian manufacturing. I come from a very proud manufacturing state. One of the most important foundations of our $1.5 billion Modern Manufacturing Strategy is to reinvigorate homegrown, sustainable, self-sufficient manufacturing in this country. I know that so many Australians in the wake of the COVID pandemic want to see Australia become a more resilient and self-sufficient nation, and manufacturing is at the core of the concerns of so many Australians.

I just want to commend the work of our government, in contrast to Labor. When Labor was last in power, one in every eight manufacturing jobs was lost, but we are seeing a massive boom in manufacturing by getting the economic conditions right, making science and technology work for industry, focusing on areas of advantage—our six national manufacturing priorities including medical products and food and beverage manufacturing—and building national resilience.

As part of our many, many grants that we are providing, incentives to Australian manufacturers, I was so proud to join with Minister Taylor in announcing a $4.8 million grant for a company, Planet Protector Packaging, which is manufacturing packaging using sheep waste wool to manufacture Woolpack, which is a sustainable packaging alternative. This is a wonderful initiative driving new innovation in our country and, of course, it is happening right in Geelong. I am very, very proud of the work we are doing locally.