Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The Treasurer has often said there is no economic recovery without jobs recovery, and the budget is all about jobs. In Western Sydney, our manufacturers are primed to unlock their potential and create more local jobs. We hold the key to the new era in Australian manufacturing. After handing down one of the most significant budgets in our nation's history, the Treasurer's first stop was at my electorate of Lindsay and to a proud Australian manufacturer. I brought the Treasurer to SpanSet, where Kristian and the team are creating high-quality safety harnesses to keep workers safe on building sites across Australia, and round slings with the strength to lift thousands of kilos, which are even used by the Australian Defence Force for heavy vehicles. SpanSet relied on JobKeeper to get them through the toughest parts of the coronavirus pandemic. They are one of 5,000 businesses in Lindsay that have been supported by JobKeeper to stay in business and stay connected to their employees.

Joining Kristian to welcome the Treasurer was another proud Australian business based in Western Sydney, Frank Zammit of Two Way Cranes. Frank's story is one of hard work and aspiration. In less than two decades, Frank went from purchasing his first crane to now having a fleet of 44. He employs over 120 people.

This is the type of aspiration that we are putting at the centre of our plan to lead our economic recovery and create more jobs. Small businesses are the job creators of our economy, and people in small business and Australian manufacturing, like Kristian and Frank, know this as well as anyone. Frank told me how they had also accessed JobKeeper during the pandemic to help them get through. Just like SpanSet and thousands of other Australian businesses in Western Sydney and across Australia, Two Way Cranes have the resilience to withstand the recent challenges and come out the other side ready to take advantage of the government support to help them create more jobs.

That's why we are putting in place the measures to support Australian manufacturers, which will help them become more competitive, scale up, expand and ultimately create local jobs. A key part of our plan is the $1.3 billion Modern Manufacturing Initiative. We are investing in medical products, defence, resources technology and critical minerals processing, food and beverage, recycling, clean energy and the space industry. To ensure we have the resilience to mitigate the impact of future shocks to global supply chains and address our critical supply needs, we are investing $107 million in the Supply Chain Resilience Initiative. This will build resilience in these critical sectors, reduce risk and increase our agility to respond to changes.

In Lindsay, the Treasurer also took part in a roundtable discussion with my Advancing Manufacturing Taskforce. I established this task force to address the barriers facing Western Sydney manufacturers and to explore the opportunities to create local jobs, because I believe we can deliver the best outcomes when we listen directly to manufacturers who are confronting these challenges on the ground every single day. Former Prime Minister John Howard describes Lindsay as a microcosm of Australia, with many hard-working small businesses and young families. At the budget briefing, the Treasurer fielded questions from local manufacturers and small business owners, representatives from the community, local swim schools, hotels, Aboriginal organisations and universities.

An important issue across all parts of our community is easing congestion and improving safety on our roads. From local families getting to work and school in the morning and back home in the evening, to the thousands of small businesses moving their products across our community and beyond, better, safer roads make our community an even more wonderful a place to live, work and stay. I fought hard during the election to secure $63½ million to upgrade Dunheved Road and an additional $63½ million in the budget to fully fund the complete upgrade of Dunheved Road. That's $127 million for a full upgrade to this road that is so important to our community. I brought members of our community who got behind me to meet the Treasurer. These are people who signed my petition and who really fought for this road upgrade, which will mean so much to them, their families and their small businesses. For Nicole, a local truck driver who has used Dunheved Road almost every day for the last decade, this important upgrade means that her business is not getting held up in traffic and can reach its potential. For Luke, the general manager of Penrith Valley Regional Sports Centre, this upgrade means that his commute to work and home again is going to be quicker and safer. For all of our community, I look forward to this budget measure and supporting you in the future.

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