Sarah Henderson (Corangamite, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Is there a seconder for the motion?

Yes, I second the motion.

Does the member wish to speak to the motion?

I do indeed. It is my great pleasure to speak on this motion. As the member for Indi knows, the best friend of regional Australia is the coalition government. That is why we are rolling out a $100 million mobile phone black spots program with announcements due very shortly, and it has been a great pleasure for me to advocate for further funding. Of course, this is an area where Labor failed to put one single cent. We know how important mobile phone communication is in regional Australia. That is why we are delivering $1 billion over five years under our National Stronger Regions Fund. That is why we are rolling out the NBN. In my electorate, the preconstruction work for Torquay and Jan Juc has just begun—fantastic news! Forty thousand premises in Corangamite are on the rollout and, as I say, we are again giving priority to areas that need it the most. That is why we are delivering three free trade agreements—the agreement with China, of course, was signed just last week. The modelling from the Centre for International Economics shows that by 2035 the FTA will lead to 178,000 new jobs, an extraordinary boost for our GDP and for our exports. I say, shame on the CFMEU for running the scare campaign as they have done and are doing in a number of electorates, including mine in Corangamite. They need to focus more on remedying their unlawful and illegal behaviour.

We are investing very heavily in the jobs for the future. Our Geelong Region Innovation and Investment Fund has already delivered some 750 new jobs. That is why I am also pushing for an industry growth centre in advanced manufacturing. I am going to be looking forward to speaking more about this in a moment.

A division having been called in the House of Representatives—

Sitting suspended from 13:00 to 13 : 13

As I was saying, I am delighted that our government is working so hard to invest in the jobs of the future and in infrastructure, and I reference the Geelong Region Innovation and Investment Fund. This is a $29.5 million fund, but it should be a $37 million fund. The Victorian government has refused to hand over $7.5 million that it committed to this fund unconditionally. There is $15 million from the Commonwealth, all of which has been spent by our government, and $5 million from each of Alcoa and Ford, but the Victorian government has so far only committed $4.5 million. It promised $7.5 million. The member for Geelong, Christine Couzens, even made that statement a few weeks ago at an event which I was attending.

The industry minister, Minister D'Ambrosio, has written to the member for Western Victoria, Simon Ramsay, confirming that the government will not put this money into the fund. It is an absolute disgrace. This commitment was unconditional. This is damaging jobs and is an attempt to sabotage the fund. The minister writes, 'The Victorian government has decided to go it alone and assume administrative responsibility for the fund once existing funding has been fully allocated.' This is a disgrace. The minister does not understand that this is a jointly run fund where agreements have to be reached amongst the various contributors to the fund. Shame on the Victorian government for breaching this commitment and hurting Geelong jobs and Geelong workers.

Similarly I also note that the Victorian Labor government continues to fail to make any contribution to an incentive package for the Land 400 $10 billion defence contract. We are working very hard to attract a big slice of that project and I am very hopeful that part of that project, from at least one of the bidders, will be partly based in Geelong. The member for Corio has made some false statements in relation to Land 400. It is fully funded, it is on track and the request for tender is underway. In fact $117 million appears on page 158 of the Defence portfolio budget statement. That is the allocation. It is an absolute disgrace that Labor in Victoria and the Labor MPs in Geelong are doing nothing to drive the incentives package that we need. South Australia has delivered $100 million in incentives. The Victorian government is sitting on its hands, as it has done with the East West Link. It has destroyed 7,000 jobs. It has also completely thrown away the opportunities on Bay West, another complete and utter broken promise. And we now see the Victorian government sabotaging the GRIFF, which is so important for local jobs, and sabotaging our chances of attracting important work under the Land 400 defence project. (Time expired)

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