Andrew Willcox (Dawson, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation Bill 2022. Just like with the Albanese Government's radical industrial relations agenda, Prime Minister Albanese is going to rush this bill through, sidestepping parliamentary scrutiny and avoiding appropriate consultation with industry.

The coalition's Modern Manufacturing Strategy was delivering for our manufacturers. In Dawson, manufacturing champions such as CQ Field Mining Services were successful in a grant through round 2 of the Modern Manufacturing Fund to transform the met services for our future growth. Mackay business conveyor specialist Diacon Australia was another local organisation successful in round 1 of the Modern Manufacturing Fund. Businesses like CQ Field Mining Services and Diacon applied for funding through the Modern Manufacturing Fund. This fund was administered professionally through a structure of competitive grants with robust processes.

By scrapping the Modern Manufacturing Fund and replacing it with the National Reconstruction Fund, this government will make it more difficult for smaller manufacturers to access. The process outlined appears to be far more complicated and laborious. We are also being told by this no-plan government that this fund should be up and running by next financial year, but they haven't committed to a launch date yet. Industry leaders have told us this type of funding model takes years to get right and the government has chosen to redirect the modern manufacturing initiative funds without even having rolled out their own National Reconstruction Fund. This has left out manufacturing industries in the lurch without certainty.

I don't get it. This is like bulldozing your house down before you build a new one. You will have nowhere to live. The government clearly has no understanding that these delays will damage and likely cancel the businesses that they have in the pipeline.

What this means is years of work from the coalition have been lost. It begs the question: who is the National Reconstruction Fund delivering for? Is it delivering for our struggling Australian manufacturers? Or is it delivering for the Labor Party and their union mates? I find it hard to believe it's for our Australian manufacturers when this bill will put in place a Labor hand-picked board to oversee $15 billion of taxpayer funds. The unions have already demanded a third of the positions on this board. This bill gives the minister inappropriate discretions, all while the Albanese Labor government promises the Australian people and transparency. Another ridiculous union demand is that the applicants must commit to direct employment and, if the contractors or indirect workforce is used, they must be employed on at the same condition as a direct workforce. This, essentially, enshrines compulsory unionism to be a successful applicant—very tricky indeed!

While manufacturers across the country struggle with rising power prices, Labor's focus is making it more difficult for industries to employ and keep workers and, in turn, grow their businesses, because the Albanese government's budget took active steps to spitefully wipe out key features of the coalition's industry policy. The first step for increasing manufacturing in Australia is to have affordable and reliable energy. Unfortunately, under Labor's watch, electricity and gas prices are going through the roof, and the renewable pipedream is creating uncertainty due to lack of reliability.

Another important requirement for manufacturing businesses is the cost of finance. Under the Albanese Labor government, we've seen interest rates go sky high. And, speaking of sky high, the Albanese Labor government has scrapped the space industry as a priority. This is a reckless decision. Investment into the space industry can and will yield many benefits. Space and manufacturing go hand in hand, and by backing this space Australia can deliver an entirely new space supply chain. It is important that we have total control of the development and building of our satellites to be assured there is no risk of foreign eyes receiving our intel. The satellites that we build and own can enhance our military and defence capability. With the current geopolitical tensions, it has never been more important to have our eyes on the seas. While I talk about eyes on the seas, locally built satellites can provide monitoring for illegal fishing, coastal surveillance and early detection on foreign boats coming to our shores. Space technology for propulsion can be used for missiles and high-tech weapons to further protect our country. But everyone knows Labor is weak on border protection and soft on defence.

The coalition supported funding to companies like Gilmour Space to locally develop, manufacture and deploy satellites into low-space orbit. Gilmour Space is a pioneer new space company and a leading, venture-backed manufacturer of launch vehicles and satellite platforms in Australia. While Gilmour Space's manufacturing hub is based on the Gold Coast, its launching centre is in my home town of Bowen, smack bang in the middle of my electorate of Dawson. Bowen is uniquely located 20 degrees south of the equator. This is the ideal place to launch a rocket and put satellites into space. These innovative guys tend to launch the Eris rocket into space later this year. If successful, it will be Australia's first homegrown orbital space craft. Under the coalition modern manufacturing fund, Gilmour Space was awarded $52 million to develop sovereign space capabilities in Australia. The satellites Gilmour Space intend to deploy will enhance and enable earth observation, fire detection and enhanced navigation. They will be there for agricultural opportunities. There is also the potential for manned flights and for deeper space missions in the future.

On the back of this comes a tourism component. The Gilmore Space launch is a growing tourist attraction. Bowen could be Australia's next Cape Canaveral, with tens of thousands of people flocking to watch the launch. But let's not stop there. We could have a visitors interpretive centre and a simulator for those who've always dreamed of reaching the stars or walking on the moon.

The space sector will create thousands of jobs, from engineers working on the development of these rockets to tour guides handing out tickets at the launch viewing platform. The possibilities are out of this world. But, alas, the coalition's progressive and forward thinking has been completely wiped out by the Albanese government's scrapping of the space industry as a policy priority. This is short-sighted, and takes major manufacturing opportunities away from all Australians, not just the people in my electorate.

I'm also very concerned about the decision to scrap food and beverage manufacturing as a standalone priority for Australian industry. The coalition laid out an ambitious plan to double the value of the industry by 2030. The Prime Minister said at the last election he would leave no-one behind. What a joke! He is leaving whole industries behind. Changing these priorities leaves investment decisions in limbo. Decisions like these from the Albanese government, when paired with other cuts and pillaging from our regions, make it clear to me that Labor just don't care where their food comes from, and Labor certainly don't care if the country ends up with food shortages. Maybe when this government starts to feel hungry, it might realise that this is bad governing. But I fear it might be a case of too little, too late.

Since coming to government, the Albanese government has been on a go-slow, wasting time for our manufacturers with countless reviews, cuts to coalition programs and finger-pointing. It needs to start acting like a government. The Albanese Labor government is not in opposition any more; it is in control. It needs to take control and work for all Australians. As surging costs continue to cripple our manufacturers, the challenges presented by rising energy bills, workforce shortages and disrupted supply chains smash small businesses. The Albanese government remains focused on a union backed agenda. Instead of pleasing its union buddies, the Albanese government must address rising energy prices, increased gas costs, increased finance costs and labour shortages. This is the only way manufacturing can succeed in this country.

It is vital that government supports Australian manufacturing, and with this bill the Albanese government is, clearly and sadly, leaving our manufacturing industry behind. Ten months in, the manufacturing industry can certainly say with confidence that life isn't easy under Mr Albanese.

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