Carina Garland (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Future Made in Australia Bill 2024 and the Future Made in Australia (Omnibus Amendments No. 1) Bill 2024. Unfortunately, those opposite have no credibility when it comes to talking about manufacturing, considering the shameful decline of the industry that we saw under their watch over a wasted decade, including goading the automotive manufacturing industry to leave Australia. In terms of concrete policies, I think we heard more about the Biden administration's approach to manufacturing than we did about anything that the coalition is prepared to offer. I'm pretty disappointed that once again we're standing here in the chamber debating legislation that is actually going to help drive economic growth in this country and those opposite are just saying no with the most farcical arguments.

I know that building sovereign capability and building good, secure jobs for the future really matter to my electorate of Chisholm. I remember, during the campaign, knocking on doors and speaking to thousands and thousands of voters right across my electorate and having really positive conversations around what it would mean to restore sovereign capability in this country and to build the good, secure jobs for the future that people in my community wanted to see. When I was campaigning and speaking to people initially about what sovereign capability restored in Australia would look like, this was of course during one of the worst periods in the pandemic, when we saw the absolute failure of supply chains—the failure of the previous government to have adequately invested in manufacturing that left us unable as a country to do really basic things, like even just manufacture paracetamol, for instance, and other life-saving drugs.

I am in pretty close regular contact with my local manufacturers in my electorate, and I can tell you that there is real excitement in the community with industry about reinvesting in manufacturing in this country, which of course is something that only Labor governments ever meaningfully do. A future made in Australia is something that we should all be really proud about. It's once again disappointing and unfortunately unsurprising that those opposite have managed to politicise rebuilding sovereign capability and good, secure jobs. Imagine that—imagine standing against sovereign capability when we have just seen a failure of supply chains and standing against good, secure, well-paid jobs. It is unbelievable, but at the same time it is believable because that's who we're dealing with here opposite.

Our government is investing in a future made in Australia because we want to unlock private investment in future industries and bring new jobs and opportunities to communities across the country. I'm an optimist. I'm always hopeful for this country. I'm really ambitious for our country and our communities. This is a really ambitious, optimistic policy that's about building a really wonderful future for everyone in this country. This is about maximising the economic and industrial benefits of the global transformation to net zero and securing Australia's place in a changing global economic and strategic landscape. It will help Australia build a stronger, more diversified and more resilient economy. Powered by renewable energy, it will create more secure, well-paid jobs and encourage and facilitate the private sector investment required to make Australia an indispensable part of the global net zero economy. This is a wonderful chance for us to seize the opportunities presented to us, and I urge those opposite to really reconsider their position on this.

The Future Made in Australia plan recognises that our future growth prospects lie in the intersection of our industrial resources, skills and energy bases and our attractiveness as an investment destination. It combines our comparative advantages in renewable energy with traditional strengths in resources and manufacturing to build new opportunities, including in critical minerals processing, green metals, clean energy technologies and low-carbon liquid fuels. The bill and omnibus bill deliver on key elements of the government's Future Made in Australia plan, which was announced by our government in the 2024-25 budget.

There is rigour imposed on government decision-making here. We're going to help give investors the clarity and certainty they need to invest and unlock growth in our economy. We know that consistency is really important and that clarity is really important. Unfortunately, once again, that's something that was a failure of the previous government, where there were multiple different policies and never enough certainty for investors to really commit to Australia in the way that we would like to see them and are trying to facilitate through this legislation and this vision for our country.

I know from meeting with a number of companies, industry groups and researchers right through my community how excited people are about this. I meet with people in the medical technology manufacturing sector, the pharmaceutical manufacturing sector, the advanced manufacturing sector and people doing work with clean and renewable energies. I meet with the CSIRO. I meet with ANSTO. I've got the Synchrotron in my electorate. I meet with Monash University. I meet with Deakin University. I meet with partnership groups right across my electorate such as the Monash precinct network. I have Moderna building in my electorate at the moment, joining Pfizer, joining Stryker, joining Pyrochar, joining Sorbent, joining Paragon, joining Textron and a whole range of other industry groups and companies doing incredible work. I know that commitment and certainty in industrial policy are things that people have really wanted to see from government and I'm really delighted that finally they will be seeing that.

The global transition to net zero and the changing geostrategic landscape present a significant opportunity for Australia, and people in my community know that. This is about hope for the future: that they are able to see our country transition to net zero while at the same time taking advantage of the opportunities to uplift the economy, to diversify our market and to really ensure that everyone in our community benefits. We know and we've seen—indeed, all of us have seen—that supply chains are under pressure with increasing fragmentation and global competition. New opportunities in clean energy industries are also emerging that will shape the future of the global economy over the next decade and beyond, and our nation, Australia, is ideally placed to benefit from the global transition is underway, due to our comparative advantages, capabilities and trade partnerships. I see that every day in the industrial research ecosystem in my own electorate of Chisholm.

The private sector is responding to these opportunities, but there is also a role for government in creating a positive, enabling environment for investment. This includes where economic incentives are not aligned with broader national interest objectives. This bill provides a framework and imposes rigour on government decision-making on substantial public investment, particularly those used to incentivise private investment at scale. This bill has a number of key components: embedding the government's National Interest Framework, which was announced at the budget; to help identify sectors where Australia has a genuine comparative advantage in the net zero economy or an economic security imperative; to establish a robust sector-assessment process to understand and remove barriers to private investment; and to establish a set of community benefit principles that will make sure Future Made in Australia investments create strong returns for local communities, workers and businesses. It's really important, as we embark on the process of transitioning to a net zero economy, that no communities are left behind, that no individual is left behind and that we are able to realise opportunities presented for everybody.

The new National Interest Framework will help to better align economic incentives with the national interest. Legislating the framework will provide certainty to the investment community which is critical to attracting private funding at scale. We want to partner with private industry here. The legislation codifies the two streams of the framework. The net zero transformation stream covers sectors that could have a comparative advantage in a net zero economy and where public investment is likely to be needed for a sector to make a significant contribution to emissions reduction at an efficient cost. The economic resilience and security stream covers sectors where some level of domestic capability is a necessary or efficient way to deliver economic resilience and security and the private sector will not be able to deliver the necessary investment in the sector in the absence of government support.

Sector assessments are made at the direction of the Treasurer and conducted independently by Treasury. They will assess whether an area of the economy is aligned with the National Interest Framework and will help inform how government can reduce barriers to investment in priority areas. There is rigour in this system and there is rigour in this framework. These assessments are also required to be made public, which brings extra transparency and rigour to government decision-making.

The government wants to ensure that public investment and the private investment it attracts flows to communities in ways that benefit local workers and businesses. That's why a set of community benefit principles will be applied to Future Made in Australia supports identified in this bill. Specifically, we want to ensure that investments promote safe and secure jobs that are well paid and have good conditions, develop more skilled and inclusive workforces—including by investing in training and skills development and broadening opportunities for workforce participation. We want to engage collaboratively so we that can achieve positive outcomes for local communities such as First Nations communities and communities directly affected by the transition to net zero. We want to strengthen domestic industrial capabilities through stronger local supply chains and demonstrate transparency and compliance in relation to the management of tax affairs including benefits received under Future Made in Australia supports.

This legislation is ambitious, and our government is unapologetic about our ambition for this country to seize the opportunities presented by the net zero transition the global economy is going through right now. We can leverage our natural capabilities as a nation here while creating excellent, well-paid and secure jobs right across the country in communities that are going to need government support as we move towards a new global economy. I emphasise once again that this is a global movement and a global economic shift. Australia needs to be competitive here so our communities are able to take advantage of the opportunities presented to us and not be left behind. That is what we would have seen under a coalition government and something we had unfortunately experienced already in the guiding of the automotive industry to leave the country and no preparedness to support good manufacturing jobs in our communities.

The contrast is clear that this side stands for hope, ambition, opportunity, uplifting our economy and diversifying our economy. Once again, unfortunately those on the other side say no to everything that we present. I hope that there is an opportunity for them to recognise the public policy and community benefits that are evident in this piece of legislation and reconsider their position on it.

I know that I will always stand with industry, workers and communities in order to realise the net zero economic transition opportunities here so that we can live on a healthy planet with good, secure and well-paid jobs for all of our communities. Thank you so much.

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