Dan Repacholi (Hunter, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak on the very important topic of manufacturing. Right now it is tough for a lot of Aussies. Interest rates continue to go up, the cost of living is continuing to get higher, and these same pressures are making things difficult for our manufacturing sector too. A strong Australia needs a strong manufacturing sector. It is no secret that our manufacturing sector is not as strong as it once was. The Hunter knows this well. Just up the road in Newcastle is one of the biggest steel manufacturing plants in the country, the BHP steelworks. This gave jobs to many people in my electorate. It closed in 1999, and who was the government then? Those opposite.

Like me, those who worked in the car manufacturing industry also know all too well the struggle of manufacturing in this country. It does not take a genius to figure out who was in government when the last car manufacturer in this country closed down. That is right; it was those opposite—again. There appears to be a pattern here. Whenever the decline of manufacturing sector is o brought up, those opposite are associated with it. They then have the tenacity to stand in this place and make pathetic and untrue claims that this government is doing nothing to help the manufacturing sector. Well, it may be difficult to rebuild the manufacturing sector as quickly as those opposite knocked it down, but we will certainly try.

This is a government who passed a $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund, and those on the other side of the chamber—the no-alition—unsurprisingly, as they always do, said no. So do not claim that you care about manufacturing when you oppose a multibillion-dollar fund aimed at building manufacturing again in this country. Those opposite would rather oppose for opposition's sake and see manufacturing continue to decline than vote with the government, because it might mean admitting that we are doing something right. That is childish, playground like behaviour but, luckily, the adults are now in government.

My electorate of the Hunter has always been a powerhouse for our state and it is this government that is making sure that my electorate will remain a powerhouse of New South Wales for decades to come. Ten long years of insecurity and indecisions on energy policy cast some doubt on the future of power generation in the Hunter. But this Labor government is making sure that jobs in the energy sector are created right where they should be—in the place that has always kept the lights on for New South Wales—the mighty Hunter.

The National Reconstruction Fund is making this possible. Just in case you have forgotten, those who you can probably hear having a whinge oppose this. If they had their way, energy generation in the Hunter would be making zero progress, stuck the behind indecision and ideological roadblocks. But the fund will provide opportunities for Australians, especially the Hunter, in a broad range of areas. This fund will help our resources sector, a sector I am proud to champion and a sector which the Hunter region was built on. Because of this fund, manufacturing is already looking at coming to the Hunter with Energy Renaissance building their first gigawatt factory just outside the Hunter, making our region home to lithium ion battery manufacture. This is just the beginning. This fund will create opportunities in the forestry and fisheries sector, the transport sector, medical science, renewables, low-emissions technology and also in defence. No matter where your skill set lies, job opportunities will be created for you and underpinning every single one of those sectors is manufacturing.

We know things are tough for Australians and we know that this does not make it easy for our manufacturers. But despite what is being said by those opposite, we are getting on with the job of creating jobs and helping to encourage manufacturing in this country. We passed the National Reconstruction Fund, and I have no doubt that this fund will be pivotal in reconstructing our nation and all that has crumbled underneath the previous government, especially in the manufacturing sector.

This motion is nothing other than a political play by a desperate opposition, who are trying to distract from the fact that the reason we need a reconstruction fund is because of their lazy attempt to govern this country.

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