Ms Catherine King (Ballarat, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Infrastructure, Transport, Regional Development and Local Government) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Cunningham for the question, for her strong representation of the people of beautiful Wollongong and for her advocacy for projects like the Mount Ousley interchange, which she has been a champion of.

People in Wollongong, and in all of our regions, know that our Future Made in Australia policy will be a boon for the regions. Under our Future Made in Australia policy, one of the priority initiatives outlined in the budget was the development of an Australian low-carbon liquid fuel industry. This will help hard-to-abate transport sectors like aviation and heavy haulage to reduce their emissions, while creating new jobs and opportunities in the country. There is money for innovation and certification, and, shortly, we will be consulting on options to introduce a production incentive to kickstart local manufacturing of fuel, including the supply of Australian feedstock like canola and sugar cane waste. Currently over 60 per cent of canola exported to Europe is used to produce biofuels, and 400 kilotonnes of tallow exported to Europe the same—that we then import back in at some cost for these industries.

We can do this here, and our industry agrees. Bioenergy Australia says our policies 'will create jobs in regional Australia, boost economic growth, bolster energy security and futureproof our tourism and transport sectors'. GrainCorp said:

… federal budget funding for low carbon fuels initiatives playing into its strategy to become a major player in the renewable fuels supply chain.

I'm asked about what approaches we've rejected. We've rejected what those opposite think of regional industries and support for manufacturing in our regional industries, that saw our car industry leave our shores. We're rejecting calls to ditch local production, to support local incentives for production and to destroy our aluminium industry. Back in 2012, during a presentation to the Minerals Council of Australia, the now shadow Treasurer—a great champion for manufacturing in our regions, apparently—advocated the scrapping of all local content policies and the closure of aluminium refining in Australia. That's what the shadow Treasurer said. This is an industry that employs 3,500 Australians and exported 1.5 million tonnes of aluminium worth $5.2 billion to our economy in 2023. The shadow Treasurer apparently called our local industry uncompetitive and, similarly, weak. Where the Albanese government is working to deliver a future made in Australia, the coalition wants a future made overseas. They want to close down our industries. We want a future made in Australia, including in our regions.

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