Patrick Gorman (Perth, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister to the Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I don't know, maybe there are some sensitivities amongst the coalition parties about the idea that the former member for Kooyong might return to this place. However much he spent, we definitely know billions of dollars were wasted in JobKeeper through poor policy design. That's the talent that is being brought back into this place. Indeed, the former member for Kooyong, who may be the new member for Aston, has the record as the highest taxing Treasurer in Australian history. I note that when I say 'highest taxing treasure in Australian history' I am not being pulled up on accuracy, because it is a fact.

The other thing we as a government have sought to do, in dealing with the decade of inaction presided over by those opposite, is make sure that we once again look to the future on the important work of acting upon climate change. Embracing the transition to clean energy and the opportunities in front of Australia brings with it 600,000 jobs. We know that those jobs are good, well-paying, secure jobs, jobs that have a very bright future, and we should be looking to do everything we can to encourage those jobs to come here to Australia as we seek to be the renewable energy superpower that will not just power Australia and Australian industry into the future but also help provide the energy and resources of the future for our neighbours and friends abroad. Australia has always had a proud history of being an energy exporter. That is a history we embrace. It is our present role in helping many of our friends and allies around the world with their energy security needs, and if we want to make sure that we can continue to do that for many, many decades to come, we need to be serious about embracing action on climate change and about embracing the opportunities presented through further expansion of our critical minerals industries.

We also saw a change in how we develop policy in this place, when it came to the climate change bill. We saw a government that was happy to take sensible suggestions from other parts of the parliament to improve the legislation in front of us. The Australian people expect us to work together to make sure that we do grab good ideas from wherever they should come. It was pleasing to see that legislation become law last year.

After some productive work, I note that we now have the coalition that designed the safeguard mechanism refusing to implement policies they previously supported to help act on climate change. These are policies that have been developed in partnership with industry, after talking to industry about what they need, about how we make sure that we work together to reduce emissions while supporting Australian jobs and Australian industry. That's what this legislation is all about. But in an interesting change from the party that for many years did not support net zero by 2050 under the former Deputy Prime Minister—I commend him for shifting the coalition along towards the proposition of net zero by 2050—now in opposition they are backtracking from all of those commitments by trying to block action on the safeguard mechanism.

When it comes to making sure that Australians have a reliable, clean, secure energy supply, we need to make sure we are putting in place the good, long-term measures that will ensure energy security and job security for all. So I urge those on the opposition benches to do everything they can to work with us to deliver those sensible improvements to their safeguard mechanism.

When it comes to the question of walking together and looking at how you can find the big shifts in policy that will help support the future of this country and make sure we do walk as one, there is no simpler proposition than that put forward by the authors of the Uluru Statement from the Heart, the statement that was written in 2017, handed in generosity to the previous parliament, handed in generosity to the previous government, and that seeks to find a way to work together. It was based on feedback from Prime Ministers Abbott and Turnbull about what was needed, about what was the sensible Constitutional amendment that would enable us to do recognition and respect and to work with the First Nations of this country.

This is a huge opportunity. I welcome the fact there is ongoing dialogue between ministers and shadow ministers to ensure we get the referendum machinery provisions right. I welcome the fact the Leader of the Opposition has met with the referendum working group. I welcome the fact we have open hearts across this parliament to try and find a way to, after 122 years, properly recognise the First Australians in our Constitution. This is beyond party politics. It's beyond individual members of parliament. It is something for 17.2 million Australians to have their say on. It's something that has been worked on in one form or another for 15 years. In the words of the Prime Minister, released more than six months ago at the Garma Festival, there is a basis for every member of this place to have a say on what that constitutional amendment would look like, and once we've had our say it's then over to the Australian people to have their say.

I echo the words the Prime Minister said about this question on the first day of the 47th Parliament: 'You can either have a source of pride or a source of regret.' We look to next Monday, which is the 15th anniversary of the apology to the stolen generation. That was a moment of immense pride not just for this parliament but for this nation. We have an opportunity this year to put another moment of immense pride for our people into our national history books and write a brighter future for all Australians.

We find ourselves inheriting not just a trillion dollars of debt but the interest rate rises that began under the coalition. We had interest rate rises start under the coalition. We had a trillion dollars of debt racked up by former Treasurer Frydenberg. And, on top of that, we enter the choppy waters that come with the emergence of China from COVID restrictions and the changes that come to our energy markets as a result of Russia's illegal and immoral war in Ukraine. And we have to work with our partners on the increasingly challenging strategic environment in which we find ourselves, as the Deputy Prime Minister so ably outlined in his remarks to the House. It is why we need a government that has policies focused on spending that creates growth, making sure every dollar is spent effectively and every dollar we spend has an economic benefit to the people of Australia—doing things like boosting participation and lifting productivity, doing what we can to increase wages and ensuring that people get those secure, well-paid jobs that enable them to further invest into our economy.

That's why we are so committed to our National Reconstruction Fund, because we know that will give us the next base of manufacturing, the next base of Australian industry, and make sure we grab those opportunities for our sovereign manufacturing capability. Just two years ago we had the biggest wake-up call any island nation could have—that we do not have as much capability here as we need to supply the things we need for ourselves. We are seeking to act by bringing in our National Reconstruction Fund. Again, I urge those opposite to back this in.

If I look to my community and what we continue to do, I have been pleased to work with the now minister for immigration and citizenship in a previous capacity on the ideas that would help improve and strengthen the Perth City Deal—a deal which is a partnership between the federal government, the state government and the City of Perth. We will continue to re-energise this deal, that $1.5 billion of investment, to make sure we have the universities we need in the heart of the CBD. The vertical campus by the Edith Cowan University is looking very exciting. Edith Cowan is a great university. It's in my electorate and in your electorate, Deputy Speaker Goodenough; the leadership of Edith Cowan chose very well as to where they placed their campuses, and I think that's something we can both celebrate.

Equally, I think something that can bring us together is the work happening on the Aboriginal Cultural Centre, with a $50 million investment from the Albanese government and a $50 million investment from the McGowan government, making sure we have that great new cultural institution in the heart of the CBD to help with truth-telling and to help with sharing the great history and cultures of this land. It's a tourism asset. I always say that if we get this right it'll rival the Sydney Opera House for its architectural brilliance, its tourism potential and the statement it makes, not just to all Australians but to the world, about our determination to work together for a brighter, fairer future.

In closing, I want to say that the other piece of infrastructure that will continue under this government—and I note that Prime Minister Albanese was the first minister ever to back this project—is the Metronet project rolling out across Western Australia. I had the joy of riding with the Prime Minister on the Forrestfield Airport Link connecting Bayswater and Perth to the airport. For the first time, people can catch a train in Perth to the airport. It's a welcome addition, and there's so much more to be built. (Time expired)

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