Julie Owens (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary for Small Business) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Wakefield for moving this motion, because it gives me an opportunity to inform the chamber of what happens in Western Sydney when it comes to food production. It's a story that I doubt many people know. In case you didn't know, Western Sydney is Australia's largest manufacturing region in the country. Manufacturing companies generate around $13.5 billion annually. The food and grocery sector in Western Sydney represents 33 per cent of the manufacturing jobs in the region and employs over 100,000 people in Western Sydney. So it's a major part of who we are as a region. It employs many, many people who support their families through working in the food industry. That includes the really big guys, who we all know—huge players in the food manufacturing industry like Arnotts in Huntingwood, which isn't in my electorate; Steggles in Pendle Hill, which is; and Coca-Cola in North Parramatta.

But it's not just the big ones; it's literally thousands of small players across the full range of cultures and cuisines, supported by small independent grocers, that initially service specific communities and grow to be part of our larger community. If I'm after edamame or tamarind paste, I go to the Chinese supermarket down in Church Street. If I'm after pomegranate molasses, I go to the Iranian Aria store. If I'm after dried pomegranate seeds, I go to the Indian supermarket in Victoria Road or down in Harris Park. We also have a growing number of African markets that sell African spices.

Increasingly, these niche products that are sold in this diverse range of independent grocers are made locally. You can go and buy locally made chutneys, including some by a company called Eat Me Chutneys, which makes chutneys from product that would otherwise go to landfill. It is a really interesting company. You can also buy tamarind and coconut chutneys as well as the more well-known ones, such as mango chutney. There's an incredible range of things. I happen to love an Indian street food called idli. It's made with fermented rice and split black gram lentils. I love it; in fact, I make it in my rice cooker in my office. But, not only can you buy the best idli in Sydney in my suburb, you can also buy locally made batter for dosa and idli, and now you can buy the flour, made locally, for idli and dosa from several producers in my electorate as well as in broader Western Sydney. It's a great place to eat food and it's also an incredibly great place to make food. We have a small yoghurt maker in Pendle Hill, and we have two kebab manufacturers in Rydalmere that supply meat for the Western Sydney staple the halal snack pack, which you can get right across my suburb. We produce cured meats, kebab meats and specialty Filipino meats. We've got food producers right across the community, in Clyde, Toongabbie, Granville, North Rocks and Carlingford. And we have at least two brewers that make some incredibly good-quality craft beer. If you want dim sum, there are manufacturers right across, from Granville to Carlingford.

I went to an Afghan home last year for dinner, and they were making a well-known Afghan dish called mantu. Rather than make the dumplings themselves, they went down to the dim sum and bought them there—not the pork ones but the vegetarian ones. So we had Chinese-Afghan food that night, which was very special. There are Middle Eastern sweets like baklava and lady's arms. Polvoron, the Filipino powdered milk candy, is manufactured locally, as is Turkish delight. You can't go past Parramatta for breads, whether they are Lebanese or Afghan breads or paratha. We have an incredible range of manufacturers. We have an increasing number of dairy producers. Yoghurt, labne, feta and paneer—across the different cultures, we make them all.

All these food-manufacturing businesses should be applauded for the huge contribution they make to employment and the economy—and, of course, our dinner! They are a great contributor to food diversity and innovation in diet that comes from these small, niche producers. The possibility in this diversity is extraordinary. The possibility to extend their markets from niche markets to the broader community and to export back into the cultures from which the foods come is extraordinary. The risks are also great, with the rising cost of gas and power. That's why I'm incredibly grateful to Bill Shorten and the member for Wakefield for announcing Labor's $1 billion advanced manufacturing fund, which will help support our most innovative food manufacturers in the years to come.

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