Carina Garland (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm really grateful to be able to speak in continuance here on the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation Bill 2022 and reflect on why it is so important that we establish a National Reconstruction Fund. We get one chance to rebuild after the kind of crisis we have seen with the COVID-19 pandemic and the lessons we learned there around the precarity of supply chains in Australia. We must seize this opportunity. I am really genuinely disappointed that those opposite won't support the National Reconstruction Fund. It isn't too late. They can change their minds. I wish that they would back in Australian manufacturing in the same way that we will on this side of the House. This should be bipartisan. I'm baffled. It is inexplicable why the coalition won't support the community in relation to investing in manufacturing, but then again, as we saw with automanufacturing, this is not an area that the coalition seem to have much interest in supporting.

We saw what happened during the very worst parts of the COVID-19 pandemic—and we are still in a pandemic, of course—when we had no sovereign capability in manufacturing and when supply chains were terribly disrupted through border closures. This was a moment for our country to reflect and learn lessons to make sure that we can do what is needed to be resilient and self-sufficient. We have learned that lesson. We saw what happened. We don't want that to happen again. We are implementing the change we need.

I have had a lot of conversations about this in my electorate. I have some big universities—Monash University and Deakin University—in my electorate. They are doing amazing things in terms of technologies of the future in a range of different sectors, including the pharmaceutical and medical technology, defence and renewable energy spaces. All of those areas will be backed in by the National Reconstruction Fund priority areas.

I have spoken to many businesses in my electorate, including Textron Systems in Notting Hill and Stryker in Mount Waverley, about the National Reconstruction Fund. There really is excitement and relief that there's a commitment from government in this country to revive manufacturing in Australia, to support the companies who are already here so that their businesses can grow and thrive and also to encourage more businesses in an ecosystem and environment such as in my electorate so we can create the high-wage, high-skilled jobs in this country that we really need. We need to do this in order to grow our nation's wealth. We need to do this to make sure that we have good, secure, well-paid jobs in Australia.

This is a good bill that will do great things for our nation. This is a good plan for our country. We can rebuild our country to be a place that is sufficient, resilient and more secure. That's what the National Reconstruction Fund is about. It would be nice if those opposite didn't just say no to everything. What we are seeing in this debate is that this is not a contest of ideas about how manufacturing can be supported in Australia. There is none of that. There is no constructive plan from those opposite, no vision, no imagination, no hope and no support for people in our communities across Australia who want to have a thriving manufacturing industry here.

We are putting forward a plan that is forward-thinking. It is about building a prosperous nation. It is about growing our wealth. Those opposite are just saying no—no to good, secure jobs, no to a strong economy and no to a more secure Australia. I find it quite unbelievable. I'm not sure what kinds of conversations those opposite are having in their communities around what's happening with the National Reconstruction Fund and why they are not interested in stimulating the economy or in growing our nation's wealth and creating jobs of the future, but I personally would find it very difficult to have conversations in my community if I were walking away from something as important as this for our country's future.

Advanced manufacturing has a huge multiplier effect. We know this. This is a fact. Manufacturing acts as an anchor for businesses across supply chains, and that's one of the many reasons that the loss of automanufacturing and the decline of manufacturing under the previous government was so devastating. It wasn't just about Toyota or the other car companies; it was about all of the different parts of the supply chain that were engaged in the manufacture of those automobiles.

Through revitalising manufacturing in this country, particularly high-tech advanced manufacturing, we can once again realise the positive impacts throughout the economy, stimulating and driving the development of business, with—and this is a really extraordinary figure—multiplier effects of 10 to one in some high-tech manufacturing sectors. So each dollar we invest reaps much larger returns.

This is a historic, remarkable moment for our nation to go down this path. I remember the many conversations I had throughout the election campaign, and I'm sure many people in this place had conversations with their communities about disrupted supply chains and the fact that we just could not make things here. I remember the distress in conversations with people when they couldn't get medicines in Australia or when they remembered the kinds of great jobs that used to exist. I see scoffing from those opposite, but we're talking about a shortage of infant paracetamol that took place during the pandemic, and I don't think that is funny. Parents were really distressed, during one of the greatest public health crises of our time, that their children weren't able to get pain relief. Those opposite might find that funny; I don't.

I remember when I spoke to people in the electorate about the great kinds of jobs that used to exist in manufacturing. They could support families on those jobs. They had reliable hours and good wages. People in my community remember that Australia. They want that kind of security of work and the kind of high-quality wages that they can support a family on again. People in this country want us to be better at local supply. They were horrified at the state of things during the earlier parts of the pandemic.

Australians know that the National Reconstruction Fund is a way to boost our economy, not just to recover but to rebuild and to be a stronger nation than we were before. We, the Albanese Labor government, were elected on a mandate to drive this transformation of Australian industry and revive our ability to make world-class products in Australia. Manufacturing matters because it creates full-time, meaningful work and secure jobs. We're focusing on high-quality jobs because that means more well-paid and secure jobs.

The $15 billion of the National Reconstruction Fund is a key to support, diversify and transform Australia's industry and to create sustainable, well-paying jobs—those jobs of the future. The NRF, the National Reconstruction Fund, will provide finance to drive investments in seven priority areas of the Australian economy. These leverage Australia's natural and competitive strengths, support the development of strategically important industries and shore up supply chains. Those seven priority areas are value-add in resources; value-add in the agriculture, forestry and fishery sectors; transport; medical science; renewables and low-emission technologies; defence capability; and other enabling capabilities. I know that a lot of the businesses in my electorate, particularly around the Monash Technology Precinct, are really looking forward to seeing what can be possible with the support of a federal government that backs these industries in. There are so many businesses and researchers at the universities already doing incredible work. This is just about enabling them to do more of that to expand the footprint they have in our community; to create those good, secure jobs; and to join with leaders in pharmaceuticals like Moderna and Pfizer in my electorate to create that hub, that ecosystem, where we're generating new ideas, new technologies and wealth for our communities and for our country.

I'm really pleased that we're getting this work done. It was a priority of ours going into the election campaign and, of course, into government. We're not wasting any time before getting it done. Our communities expect this kind of reform of us, especially as we rebuild after the devastating period of the pandemic. I really urge those opposite to reconsider, because I genuinely think this is going to be good for all of our communities—your electorates as well as mine.

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