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

Thank you very much to the member for Paterson for that question. She, of course, is a very strong advocate for jobs in her region and knows that our Future Made in Australia plan will deliver benefits for all of regional Australia. Whether it be renewable hydrogen, solar panels and batteries, green metals or critical minerals processing, our Future Made in Australia plan is all about jobs in the regions.

A great example of that is low-carbon liquid fuels. Right now, 60 per cent of Australian canola exported to Europe is used to produce biofuels, and we export 400 kilotonnes of our tallow, largely from our abattoirs, to Europe for the same purpose each and every single year—Australian feedstock being shipped offshore, creating jobs overseas, with some of that final product being reimported into Australia. Our Future Made in Australia plan will see more of this product being transformed here in Australia into sustainable fuels—for our planes, for our ships and for our heavy vehicles. Our budget will see more investment in local projects and innovation. We are creating the building blocks for this industry right here in Australia. We will consult on demand-side measures and we will shortly be engaging with industry on the final form of a production incentive to kickstart local manufacturing of sustainable fuels.

You would think that growing new Australian jobs and industries, particularly in our regions, would unite this parliament, but no. This is all opposed by those opposite, who have confirmed that they will not support the Future Made in Australia, including the development of a low-carbon liquid fuel industry. Why is that? Of course, we know they have form when it comes to opposing Australian manufacturing and Australian industry. We know they killed the car industry here in Australia. They of course, notably, had a defence minister who said that they wouldn't trust Australian industry to build a canoe, and now they have a shadow Treasurer who spent his entire pre-parliamentary career advocating against local jobs.

On this side, we support Australian industries.

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