Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party, Shadow Minister for Defence Industry) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation Bill 2022. I want it to be known that I support manufacturing's long and prosperous history in Australia, which has promoted innovation and secured jobs for Australians. When I look around my own home, back at Clontarf, only a few of the items were made in Australia. On my roof I've got solar panels from Tindo Solar, the only manufacturer of solar panels in Australia. Pretty much nothing else is made here. I've got a barbecue in my backyard from Heatlie Barbecues, made in Australia and designed and manufactured here. I've got a Polyworld water tank, manufactured in Clontarf, where I live in Queensland, and RM William boots—you'll know about them. They're made from kangaroo leather produced by Packer Leather in my electorate. From BlueScope Steel, I've got a COLORBOND roof and a steel frame—all Australian steel products.

But it is fair to say that we could do a lot more, and I'd love to see a lot more manufacturing come back into Australia. I must say that the Labor Party have been responsible for the loss of a lot of manufacturing, through higher demands through unions that have sent businesses overseas. Look at what they've done since coming to government: they're governing for the unions again, governing for their political donors, by scrapping the ABCC and making industrial relations changes that weren't flagged prior to the election. With the Labor Party, it's all about looking after their political donors, and they take no responsibility for jobs that are being sent offshore through their actions whilst in government.

The reality is that there's a really good manufacturing policy right now that the Australian government has in law, rather than bringing in this crazy bill. You'd think that, when they came to office, the current government might actually govern—be it through a minister or the Prime Minister—and say, 'Hang on, we already have a Modern Manufacturing Strategy with six National Manufacturing Priorities.' But, instead, they said: 'No, let's throw that out. Let's just do something completely new, off books and off the budget.' There's no budget surplus for the next four years, and none for 10 years, yet they go on about debt, $250 billion of which they racked up during the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd years. This government can't tell the truth. That's the reality.

But let's talk about what the coalition government did for manufacturing in our time in office. The former coalition government delivered the Modern Manufacturing Strategy. It identified the six National Manufacturing Priorities, including around food and beverage; medical products; resources technology in critical minerals processing; recycling and clean energy; defence; and the space industry. I'll say more about the space industry, because it seems that the minister for industry has completely abandoned space. They want to leave that to overseas countries. Take note: that's what they want to do—this government is completely abandoning space.

We invested $1.5 billion in the Modern Manufacturing Strategy, strengthening and building a competitive economy. That $1.5 billion generated over $113 billion in value in products manufactured—that was in 2021—and more than $50 billion in exports from the $1.5 billion in the Modern Manufacturing Strategy, which the coalition government put in place. So you'd think that this government would do something, rather than delaying this for a couple of years. It's 10 months in, and they haven't even got anything in place. They've ignored the previous Modern Manufacturing Strategy for the last 10 months, and by the time this National Reconstruction Fund gets established it will be—what?—two years down the track, and manufacturers will be left wanting.

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