Karen Andrews (McPherson, Liberal Party, Minister for Industry) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for her question. I note that in her electorate there are over 400 manufacturing businesses and over 4,000 manufacturing workers. I thank her and congratulate her for her support of those manufacturing businesses.

Last week the Prime Minister announced the $1.5 billion Modern Manufacturing Strategy. This strategy is designed to back Australian manufacturers. This will make sure that we are creating the income that Australia needs and that we are providing the jobs of the future that are so needed in Australia at the moment. We are making sure that we are going to create jobs not only now but in the future. This strategy deals with the short-term crisis by opening a second round of the Manufacturing Modernisation Fund. It also sets up for the longer term so that we can continue our manufacturing strengths in some key sectors.

It was made very clear in the announcement last week that we can't continue to be all things to all people, so as a government we have taken the decision to be very focused and very targeted in our support for industries. We are doing that on top of a very strong base. This is building on the economic conditions that we have worked so hard to improve over the last few years. We are building a very solid base for our manufacturing. It builds on the work that is being done in energy so that we have affordable energy. It builds on the work that is being done in skills and training. It builds on the work that is being done with industrial relations reform. It builds on the work that is being done with trade. It builds on the work that is being done in infrastructure.

All of that work is going to support every single business in Australia. On top of that we have the $1.5 billion Modern Manufacturing Strategy. It deals specifically with six key priority areas: resources technology and critical minerals processing; food and beverage; medical products; recycling and clean energy; space; and defence. This $1.5 billion strategy is going to make sure that our businesses are competitive and resilient and, importantly, that they can build the scale that we need. We are focused on making sure that our small businesses build to medium enterprises and our medium enterprises build to large businesses, because that is how we are going to create the jobs of the future. We want our manufacturers here to be successful because they are going to provide a very clear pathway for us through the COVID crisis.

See this speech in context