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

It is my great pleasure to rise in this debate and to put some questions to the minister in relation to what I consider is very significant support, particularly in advanced manufacturing. The member for Wakefield, as he is prone to do, has attempted to rewrite history in relation to the car industry. He has clearly forgotten that in my great city of Geelong it was under the Gillard government in May 2013 that Ford announced it was closing and ending manufacturing in Australia. After 91 years of manufacturing almost half a million vehicles in Geelong, it has been a very emotional time for Ford employees and suppliers, their families and the broader Geelong community. I do want to pay tribute to the incredible contribution that the Ford Motor Company and its workforce have made to our community.

But it is important to reiterate that while this is the end of a manufacturing era, it is not the end of manufacturing for Ford in Geelong. The member for Wakefield has been very misleading in the comments he has made about our car industry. Ford will continue to play a very important role in our community, employing more than 500 people—at the moment it is about 650 people—in the Geelong region at its research and development centre and also at the Lara proving ground. The RDC and the proving ground in Geelong are one of only four global centres of design, innovation, engineering and testing. The RDC and the wonderful workforce of Ford employees are working to design and engineer and test Ford cars for the global Ford market, so it is an absolutely wonderful credit to Ford that they are continuing to make this important investment in our region. It was a great pleasure to visit, with the minister, that Lara proving ground recently and to look at the multimillion dollar investment that Ford is making in that particular area. It is also a great pleasure to reflect on the very important investment we are continuing to make in advanced manufacturing, which is supporting not just the auto market but also advanced manufacturing across the board.

The member for Wakefield mentioned our Growth Fund, and what an amazing fund of $105 million that is. If you have a look at the election commitment that the Labor Party made in the lead-up to the election, it was giving a paltry $7 million—$7 million—for manufacturing in the Geelong region. It was an absolute embarrassment! Our government have not only committed $155 million in total, with $105 million of that coming directly from the Commonwealth, but we also have a number of very important programs under that fund. We delivered the Geelong Region Innovation and Investment Fund as well as the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre. And, as part of the Growth Fund, we delivered some other very important programs: the Next Generation Manufacturing Investment Program and Automotive Diversification Program. And that program is actually helping wonderful local manufacturers like Backwell-IXL export in excess of $1 million of Ford components. They are doing that for components for the Ford Everest and the Ford Ranger, and those parts are going to Thailand, China, South Africa and Argentina.

Let us consider how we are focused on building our auto manufacturing sector into the future and have a look at Carbon Revolution. It is a company that we should all be celebrating. Clearly it is a company that maybe the member for Wakefield has not heard about. With the support of $5 million through the Geelong Region Innovation and Investment Fund, it has become a global leader in the manufacture of carbon fibre wheels for the likes of Ford's Shelby, Mustang, GT 350 in the United States, and it is an incredible example of local manufacturing success.

With great pride under difficult circumstances, we are working very hard to support advanced manufacturing. I am keen to ask the minister to outline further ways in which the Turnbull government is investing in our manufacturing and advanced manufacturing sectors with a focus on creating jobs, building a strong economy, including in my electorate of Corangamite and in the broader Geelong region.

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