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

This is a great day for the strength of Australia and the strength of the great Aussie spirit. We've reached over 70 per cent of double dose vaccinations. I'd like to give a shout-out to my own community of Penrith, the Penrith LGA, where we've received 84 per cent. That's such a wonderful achievement.

This is about Aussies backing each other and Aussies getting on with the job, and that's just what we've been doing. We've been getting on with the job of supporting Australians through the pandemic, and now we are coming through and recovering on the other side. We've been supporting them through JobKeeper, JobSeeker and HomeBuilder, with 25,892 applications in my state of New South Wales alone.

We've been backing our manufacturers, and we've been backing jobs. This is what we've been doing throughout the pandemic and what we will keep our focus on. In fact, we were the first developed nation in the world to have more people in work after the pandemic than prior to the pandemic. Between May 2020 and June 2021, more than one million jobs were created. That's because we've been getting behind Aussies, and we've been supporting them through the pandemic so that they can do what they do best—getting on with the job and getting on with their lives.

This is the difference between the positive plan that we have—supported by technology, which we're very focused on—and the doom and gloom of Labor and their taxes, which they are completely obsessed about. In fact, the opposition leader couldn't even get through a speech during his MPI without mentioning the word 'taxes'. My community, the community of Lindsay, has not forgotten the taxes that would have been imposed if Labor had been in power: the housing tax, the retirees tax, taxes on electricity, taxes on cars, taxes on income and taxes on investment.

Investment is important. That's what we're doing; we're investing in the future of Australians. We're investing in important industries, like manufacturing, which is so important in my community of Lindsay, with over 600 manufacturers and over 6,000 jobs. When we look at manufacturing under Labor, one in eight manufacturing jobs were lost. This is extraordinary. Now we have a growing and thriving manufacturing industry in Western Sydney. A testament to this—and I visited just last week—is Scott from All Cast PPE, who has moved his factory to Penrith to produce personal protective equipment. We're investing in manufacturers, and they're investing in local jobs, employing local people, and also contributing to Australia's sovereign capability.

Another manufacturer tells me that he's investing in local trainees, which is so important, and this is backed by the Morrison government and the work that we're doing to support local manufacturers. Mal Hiley of Baker & Provan tells me that he has a personal passion for apprenticeships. They currently have six apprentices between first and fourth year, including two women commencing their fitting and machining trade. That is absolutely fantastic news. We're backing manufacturers and getting behind them. That's what it's all about—investing in them.

They're also investing in the technology that they use to expand their business. Tracy at Plustec in Emu Plains tells me that, because of our instant asset write-off program, she has been able to purchase new equipment, including a new upstroke cut saw for about $100,000. They not only gain a tax deduction but also the benefits of improved efficiencies through greater productivity, and that's fantastic news. We're investing in technology, definitely not taxes, and the obsession is still there with the Labor Party.

Another thing that we are investing in is the future of Australians. We've backed them through this pandemic. As we emerge out of the pandemic, we're enabling them to get on with the job, to get on with supporting each other through their communities—which we've been absolutely doing—so they can get back to work, get back to their families and get back to their lives.

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