Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise in support of the Future Made in Australia Bill. This great southern land is very fortunate. We have the oldest past and the brightest future. We have unparalleled natural resources, a thriving business sector, a diverse economy, a stable government, a skilled and willing workforce and strong trading relationships. With this bill the Albanese Labor government is harnessing these advantages to promote jobs, security, and prosperity for all Australians in this rapidly changing world.

The world is changing owing to a combination of factors—partly because of the transformation of industries in the digital age, complex economies and even our own lifestyles as we transition to net zero. It is also because of the challenging and nuanced strategic landscape that we live in. Right now, not too far to the north of us, we are seeing the largest literary buildup occurring since World War II. However, within this time of change there are opportunities, and A Future Made in Australia ensures that we meet these generational opportunities head-on rather than retreating from change. A Future Made in Australia is a big plan for a big country. It's visionary and it's forward-thinking. It focuses on private investment to drive the development and growth of future industries, accompanied by secure and well-paying jobs all around the country. It demands rigour in government decision-making, which will give investors confidence and clarity. While the plan is comprehensive, it also has a simple aim: to make the most of our resources—the resources that belong to the Australian people—and to make things here. Fundamentally, A Future Made in Australia is an economic action plan for a more prosperous, secure and independent future for all Australians. Who could not get on board?

This planning positions us to build a more resilient and diversified economy—one that is powered by renewable energy. It drives new industries, critical minerals processing, green metals, clean energy technologies and low-carbon liquid fuels. This bill sets out the steps we need to take to achieve a future made in Australia as announced by the Treasurer in this year's budget and as endorsed by the Australian people at the last election.

The bill the parliament is debating has three overarching elements. The first is to ensure that the new National Interest Framework is the foundation for the sector's growth moving forward. It will identify where Australia has a comparative advantage in the net zero economy or where an economic security imperative exist. Legislating the framework will provide the investment sector with clarity and confidence. A key part of the framework is the establishment of a set of community benefit principles, which is the second key component. These community benefit principles make sure that investments work for local communities, for local businesses, for local workers. This reflects Labor's commitment to positively navigating the economic and societal changes on the way to net zero so that all Australians are not only brought along on the journey but benefit as well. This requires a suite of measures, starting with community engagement and collaboration. It is crucial that local communities such as First Nations communities and those directly affect by the transition to net zero are given feedback and consultation opportunities.

A future made in Australia requires investments that provide safe, secure and well-paying jobs with good conditions. This means investing in training to develop a highly skilled workforce and broadening opportunities for workforce participation, particularly for some underrepresented groups such as women, First Nations communities and some remote communities as well. In addition to this, domestic industrial capabilities must be strengthened through more robust local supply chains. COVID exposed this flaw in our economy, so projects need to demonstrate transparency and compliance with tax management, including any contributions received under Future Made in Australia supports. These supports are the government investments to which the community benefit principles apply.

In its initial phase, the bill enables two kinds of support. The first is the Future Made in Australia Innovation Fund. The second concerns investments that are referred to the government for assessment under Export Finance Australia's National Interest Account. Under the legislation, the minister can add more supports in the future. The framework itself has two streams, focusing on the net zero transformation and economic security, balancing both of those. The net zero transformation stream concentrates on sectors that are likely to have an ongoing comparative advantage in the global economy. These sectors are anticipated to need public investment in order for the sector to make a cost-efficient contribution to emissions reduction. The economic resilience and security stream highlights the sectors that require a level of domestic capability, such as for national security reasons, via government support—so that we're not exposed, basically.

The sector assessment process is the third key component of this bill, and this assessment process will be transparent, made at the request of the Treasurer and implemented by Treasury. These assessments will be made public so that Australians can gauge whether an area of the economy is aligned with the national interest framework. The assessment process will also inform government as to any barriers to investment.

The Future Made in Australia (Omnibus Amendments No. 1) Bill 2024 outlines specific changes to enable the measures mentioned. Firstly, the government is amending the Export Finance Australia legislation to encourage and facilitate private sector investment. This includes ensuring the availability of support for existing funds and programs that cannot fully support a project. The bill also enables Export Finance Australia to focus on domestic investments that boost the net zero transformation stream and the economic resilience and security stream. Export Finance Australia will carry out these operations while continuing to bolster other national interest programs such as the Critical Minerals Facility, the Southeast Asia Investment Financing Facility, the defence export facility, and the Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific—all important projects.

The second schedule of this omnibus bill makes amendments to the Australian Renewable Energy Agency Act 2011. These amendments will ensure that the Australian Renewable Energy Agency, known as ARENA, can support the Future Made in Australia strategy. ARENA first received statutory funding way back in 2011. I should acknowledge that back then it had bipartisan support. I think that the Abbott-Turnbull-Morrison conga line of LNP governments did attack ARENA—particularly the Abbott government—but it survived and gave those three governments their only claims to have responded in any way at all to dangerous climate change, although, to be fair, I think that Turnbull and Morrison might have chronically neglected ARENA, rather than attacked it like Tony Abbott did.

As a result of these omnibus changes, ARENA will have a limited special appropriation within the legislation. The agency's parameters will be extended to include a fourth objective, which is:

… to contribute to the reduction of global greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with the Paris Agreement.

ARENA will also promote electrification and energy efficiency, given their crucial part in enabling the net zero transition, as well as enable greater integration of renewable energy into the grid. Obviously we all know, especially on this side of the chamber, that more renewable energy equals lower power bills. The equation is simple.

With global greenhouse gas emissions in mind, ARENA will also support the development and manufacture of Australian renewable energy products for our trading partners. This will assist our trading partners with their own decarbonisation targets and have a positive effect on reductions globally. After all, there is only one planet. Our neighbour's problem can be our problem to help solve.

These positive changes for ARENA will provide the agency with the foundation it needs to support the transition to net zero and make Australia a renewable energy superpower. Statutory funding means ARENA delivers its Future Made in Australia components, such as the Solar Sunshot program and the Battery Breakthrough Initiative. A snapshot of the Sunshot program shows how it supports a Future Made in Australia. It aims to support innovative manufacturing facilities right across the solar supply chain, and the Battery Breakthrough Initiative promotes the development of domestic battery manufacturing capabilities. We won't just ship off raw materials and buy back—ship in—manufactured value-added batteries. Instead we'll build them here in the first place. We know that it's happening, particularly in rural Australia. In Queensland, old or soon to be decommissioned coal-fired power stations are being reutilised by these batteries and other solar initiatives because of their connection to the grid.

This bill directs statutory funding of over $6 billion of ARENA's existing funding to a limited special appropriation. It gives private investors the security required to support the extensive projects crucial to the transformation to net zero. It also showcases Australia's unwavering commitment to climate targets. Internationally we were fast becoming a pariah when it came to our response to dangerous climate change.

The final raft of reforms to ARENA concern its governance and ensures that the agency has the ability to succeed with its expanded remit. The board will be strengthened and the agency will be able to employ its own staff. It also changes certain ministerial arrangements, including enabling the Minister for Climate Change and Energy to delegate powers to other ministers and establishing the Minister for Finance as a joint minister for ARENA, reflecting the reality that responding to dangerous climate change must be an economy-wide endeavour. All ministers have a role to play.

As the Treasurer has said:

We have a unique combination of geological, meteorological, geographical and geopolitical comparative advantages and we know it would be an egregious breach of our generational responsibilities as a government if we didn't play this winning hand.

Well said, Treasurer. That's why this year's budget directed $22.7 billion of investment into this strategy. We're already on this pathway to change and prosperity. The foundations are in place. Under Labor we are generating 25 per cent more renewable energy. In only two years we've approved enough renewable energy projects to power three million Australian homes. A Future Made in Australia is one that boosts such projects. It harnesses our natural strengths and resources. It positions us for emerging markets. It focuses on communities, technology, jobs and skills and provides the building blocks for cleaner and cheaper solutions to these energy problems. It means that we won't be slugged with carbon input charges by other nations or other blocs of nations. These carbon tariffs are real, they're emerging more and more and they will come.

We are a trading nation. Remember, we grow enough for 75 million people, but there's only 25 million of us. We're a trading nation, but in reality we're far from markets so we don't want to be exposed to extra costs. This is why a future made in Australia remains Labor's focus. We are taking action to deliver Australia's next generation of prosperity. Get on board or get out of the way. I commend the bill to the House.

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