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

That was quite something to listen to! The Albanese Labor government is committed to growing our economy, building new industries and creating new jobs. It's why the plan before this parliament for a future made in Australia is all about building Australia into a country that makes more things here, particularly in those areas where we have a natural advantage and where for security reasons—whether they are national security reasons such as security of supply—we cannot afford not to act.

It's an economic plan for a better future, making Australia wealthier, more secure and more independent. We'll put the talents of our people and our natural resources to work by making things here so that we are not simply shipping things overseas and importing them back as finished products. Companies are already using Australian minerals to manufacture solar panels to put on our roofs, but we could be doing more. Our Future Made in Australia plan is about giving a boost to projects like these and making sure that they have what they need to compete into the future.

More than anywhere in the world, Australia has the opportunity to create new jobs, new industries and new skills. But we need a government that is willing to step up to partner with the private sector to build a stronger economy made right here. That's exactly what the Albanese Labor government is doing. A key pillar of the Future Made in Australia plan is the development of a low-carbon liquid fuel industry. This will help hard-to-abate sectors like aviation and heavy haulage to reduce their emissions while creating new jobs and opportunities across the country, from growers to refineries. This policy will be a boost for regional Australia, creating new income streams for farmers and new job opportunities for workers.

Right now, much of our farmers' feedstock, including 60 per cent of our canola, exported to Europe is used to produce biofuels. We export 400 kilotonnes of tallow to Europe each and every single year for the same purpose. We should be doing this here and, through our Future Made in Australia plan, we will be.

Renewable fuels have an essential role to play in our net-zero journey and in creating new Australian industries, which is why I have championed their development ever since we came to government. One of my first speeches as minister of this portfolio back in July 2022 was focused on renewable fuels, particularly for the aviation sector. In that speech, I committed to establishing the Australian Jet Zero Council because I knew that not only was the development of a renewable fuels sector in Australia important; it was critical that we partnered with industry each and every step of the way. The Australian Jet Zero Council was established in June 2023, bringing together industry stakeholders to advise the government on the aviation industry's transition to net zero, including through the domestic production of biofuels. Through this work, we are now in a position to fast-track support for a low-carbon fossil fuel industry with an initial focus on sustainable aviation fuel and renewable diesel to support emissions reduction in the aviation and the heavy-vehicle, rail and maritime sectors, which are hard to abate. The technology does not exist at this stage or in the short, medium and, so far, long term to abate these sectors.

Through the Future Made in Australia plan, we will deliver funding for innovation, certification and processing. This includes, as we saw in the budget, $18.5 million to develop a certification scheme for low-carbon liquid fuels in the transport sector by expanding the Guarantee of Origin scheme. There's $1.5 million to undertake a regulatory impact analysis of the costs and benefits of introducing a mandate or other demand-side measures for low-carbon liquid fuels and we're investing over $1.7 billion over the next decade through the Future Made in Australia Innovation Fund to support the Australian Renewable Energy Agency to commercialise net-zero innovations, including low-carbon liquid fuels. This is a plan that is supported by industry and our agricultural stakeholders. Bioenergy Australia says our policies:

… will create jobs in regional Australia, boost economic growth, bolster energy security, and future proof our tourism and transport industries.

GrainCorp says federal budget funding for low-carbon fuels initiatives is:

… playing into its strategy to become a major player the renewable fuels supply chain.

The National Farmers Federation said it:

… has long supported the development of the Australian bioenergy and Low Carbon Liquid Fuels (LCLF) industries, with Australian agriculture playing an important role in the supply chain …

Industry knows that this is good policy and our farmers know that this is good policy as well.

Industry is already getting on with it. BP are working to establish a renewable fuels site in the Kwinana industrial area in Perth. GrainCorp, Ampol and IFM have already signed a memorandum of understanding to explore establishing Australia's own integrated renewable fuels industry. A feasibility assessment of a renewable fuels facility in Brisbane, including a supply of local homegrown feedstocks, will be an initial priority under the MOU.

You would think that growing new Australian jobs and industries would unite this place, but no. It's all opposed—as we've heard in speech after speech—by those opposite, who've confirmed that they won't be supporting the Future Made in Australia legislation. Of course we know that in their hearts the National Party does support a plan for low carbon liquid fuels because they know it is good for our farming community, good for the agriculture sector and good for regional communities. But they can't convince their coalition partners to stop saying no to every single initiative.

The shadow Treasurer dismissed this policy as 'billions for billionaires', demonstrating a failure to understand the importance of working with the private sector to build these new industries and to create more jobs at home. While we on this side of the House are supporting Australian industries, those opposite call support for Australian industries and our regional communities 'a wasted effort'. Through all of this, it appears the National Party is being silenced. In his second reading speech, the shadow Treasurer called the Future Made in Australia plan 'a plan for pork barrelling and wrong priorities'.

The shadow Treasurer should go to northern Queensland and tell that to our sugarcane growers and he should go to the Wheatbelt in WA and say that to our canola growers. He should tell that to the workers in the Kwinana industrial area in Perth and to the Lytton refinery in Brisbane. He could even go down and say it in Geelong, where they see this as very much part of the jobs for the future in their industry. But of course we know he won't do that because those opposite have got no interest in WA and they don't care about our regions. All they care about is saying no.

On this side of the House we care about the local jobs that the Future Made in Australia plan will bring and we care about manufacturing. The coalition simply wants to see all of these jobs stay overseas. While we're trying to build new industries here in Australia, we saw—of course—the coalition close them down. We know they killed the local car manufacturing industry here in Australia and that they are opposing production credits that will grow the critical minerals industry, which is something very, very important for Western Australia. They had a defence minister who said we couldn't 'build a canoe' and then they killed railcar manufacturing here in Australia as well. Now they have a shadow Treasurer who spent his pre-parliamentary career advocating against local jobs.

On this side we support Australian industries. We have local content rules in infrastructure and we have local job and training requirements. On their side they have a shadow Treasurer who calls support for Australian manufacturing 'a wasted effort'. That's what he said to the Minerals Council of Australia when he was advocating the scrapping of all local content policies and the closure of aluminium refining in Australia. Whilst we on this side of the House are working to deliver a future made in Australia, the coalition wants a future made overseas. Whilst we want more jobs, they want to close down the industries that regional communities have relied on for generations.

It's frankly time for the National Party, particularly when it comes to the pillar of low carbon liquid fuels, to decide where they stand and when they're going to stand up to their coalition partners. The Nationals need to decide whether they're going to stand with our farmers, our grain growers and our regional communities by supporting this legislation. We know that in their hearts they support it, but the test for the Nationals is whether they have the courage and influence over the coalition party room to stand up to the Liberals. Are they going to support new opportunities and new markets for our Australian farmers? Are they going to support new industries in our regional communities? Or are they, once again, just going to capitulate to the Liberal Party, who can't stop saying no for no's sake?

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