Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

The view from Newcastle could not be more contrasting. I rise to speak in support of the Albanese Labor government's Future Made in Australia Bill, and this is a very important and, indeed, most significant step in implementing the government's agenda to help build a stronger economy as well as a more diverse and more resilient economy powered by renewable energy.

Members opposite might wonder why the people of Newcastle, who have a heavily carbon-intensive economy, might be so supportive of this. We'll come to that, but we're not a people who put our heads in the sand and pretend that change isn't underway. This bill, we know and we recognise, is about creating more secure and well-paid jobs, and encouraging and facilitating private investment when required. It is going to be required to make Australia an indispensable part of a global net zero economy. Put simply, we want Australians in secure jobs and we want Australians building things here.

I listened carefully to the speech before me. I must say that when I was growing up, manufacturing was probably the biggest employer in my community. I've observed neglect of that sector now over a period of time, to the point where it is dropping down to the fourth or fifth of employers in my community. That's a sign of things changing in Newcastle, and it is absolutely indicative of the profound neglect of that sector over a long period of time and not understanding the real needs of the manufacturing sector. When I talk to manufacturers in my electorate about the intent of this bill and how it can support them, they are very excited. I want to assure members opposite the manufacturing sector in Australia is very keen to see the passage of this bill through this parliament.

It's no secret that the world is changing. Australia needs to move with t, because we don't have an option to stay stuck in the past—well, we do have an option but it takes us to a very bad place. Members opposite seem to think that it is going to be okay if we somehow ignore the entire transition of the global economy to net zero. This is our opportunity to respond. This is part of the big agenda of this government to undertake what is our greatest challenge. We've heard the Prime Minister say that this is the biggest transformation in the global economy since the industrial revolution. This is our generation's industrial revolution, and Australia needs to get on board. We need to adjust to the changing global economic and strategic landscape. This bill aims to do just that by capturing our unique combination of geological, meteorological, geographical and geopolitical comparative advantages. The legislation will encourage private sector investment to build a stronger, more diversified and more resilient economy powered by renewable energy that creates secure, well-paid jobs around the country.

I'll speak to some of the detail later, and I also want to focus on what it means to Newcastle. But what people need to understand about this bill is that it's built on three pillars. The first pillar is the National Interest Framework, which helps us to identify the sectors where we have sustained competitive advantage. We heard the Treasurer speak about that earlier on and what those sustained competitive advantages are in a new net zero economy. The National Interest Framework is also about our economic resilience and security imperatives to invest.

The second pillar is a robust sector assessment process that gives us a better understanding of how we might break down some of those barriers or obstacles that are currently in the way of private investment in key areas of our economy.

The third pillar this legislation rests on, which is a very great interest to peoples and communities across Australia, is a set of community benefit principles. Those principles will ensure that public investment—and the private investment that the public investment is going to generate for us—leads to strong returns but also leads to strengthening our communities, because those returns and benefits have to come back to our greatest assets, which are our communities and our people. So these three pillars will work together to help us build a more diverse and more resilient economy, as I said, that is powered on renewable energies. That's the intent of this legislation.

This is great news for our region, as well as the people that I represent in Newcastle, who are in the most fantastic position to take full advantage, really, of the opportunities presented by the Albanese Labor government's Future Made in Australia plan, because a future made in Australia means a future made in Newcastle. We understand that and we understand that well. We have a deepwater port and we've got vast lands surrounding that port, which are really important for renewable energy. We've got a highly skilled workforce with experience in the generation and storage of energy. We've got a world-leading university, high-quality TAFE and a thriving and highly collaborative business community. We're an attractive place for investment, for clean energy and for the clean, high-value manufacturing industries of the future.

We really want to take full advantage of all the talents of our people of our region and of all those amazing benefits—our incredible natural resources—to not only make things here in Australia but also, certainly, make things again in Newcastle and our region. We're not interested in just simply shipping things overseas and then importing them back as more expensive finished products. So it is absolutely in our national interest to be passing this bill here today.

I want to talk about a few great examples in Newcastle and the Hunter region where we can see the real benefit of private investment. It is most certainly in our national interest to diversify the manufacturing of solar panels and batteries here in Australia and improve those supply chains. We're investing in these areas under the economic resilience and security stream of the future made in Australia act.

In the Hunter region, the site of the former coal-fired power station Liddell Power Station will be transformed into a solar manufacturing hub as part of our federal government's $1 billion Solar Sunshot program, which will help Australia capture more of the global solar manufacturing supply chain through support, including production, subsidies and grants. Capturing more of that supply chain is important for many reasons. One in three Australian households have got solar panels, which is the highest uptake in the world—and that is great—but only one per cent of those panels sitting on roofs today are made in Australia. We want to fix that. Nationally, the Solar Sunshot program is going to create hundreds and hundreds of secure, high-paid, high-quality, high-skilled jobs in regional Australia.

That's just one example of how the Albanese Labor government is not just talking the talk here but actually making sure that we are not only putting investment in ourselves but also signalling to the private sector that we're serious about this business. This is a government that went to an election with an energy policy. We've stuck with that policy. We're not seeking to move to 22 different versions of some policy along the way, and that gives investors confidence. We acknowledge the role we need to play in the transition of our global economy to net zero, and we want our people and our communities to take full advantage of that.

I'm also excited that Newcastle is destined to be part of large-scale renewable hydrogen production in Australia as well. Last year the Albanese Labor government unveiled the $2 billion Hydrogen Headstart program to support new large-scale renewable hydrogen projects in Australia. Newcastle is very fortunate to have two projects that were shortlisted nationally. There is a group of six that were shortlisted; two of those come from Newcastle. There is $70 million being invested to develop a hydrogen hub in Newcastle to create good new local jobs, standing up a new industry, boosting our renewable hydrogen industry here in Australia. Origin Energy, in collaboration with Orica, is progressing development in the Hunter Valley Hydrogen Hub, which will produce renewable hydrogen and create around 100 jobs. The funding put on the table by the Albanese Labor government is building the infrastructure needed to produce up to 5,500 tonnes of renewable hydrogen each year. That will be used by Orica in their ammonium and ammonium nitrate facility to help make their products emissions free. These are hard, tough-to-abate industries, and they need something like renewable hydrogen to enable them to make that transition. There is also refuelling hydrogen buses and trucks; we know that the heavy transport sector is also one of those hard-to-abate sectors. Additionally we've KEPCO pushing ahead with its plans to commence hydrogen and ammonium production in the Port of Newcastle's clean energy precinct thanks to a further $100 million investment from the Albanese Labor government. Large-scale production of renewable energy is critical to our nation becoming a global hydrogen leader, and these products reflect the many hydrogen opportunities in Australia.

There is much more to be said. I've heard a lot of disparaging remarks from those opposite about the benefits of offshore wind, but I want to put on the record the strong support of Novocastrians for this new industry. We're in the process of establishing an offshore wind industry in Newcastle. The Albanese Labor government is paving the way for new forms of energy and job security in our region as one of the many regions that are bearing the brunt of this transition. This government is dead-set focused on helping those regions that have been part of a carbon-intensive economy to date to make these important transitions. And that's why I say, when we talk about a future made in Australia, this legislation is squarely focused on regions like mine to ensure there is a future made in Newcastle, in the Hunter and in those regions that are powered this nation for generations. We intend to be powering our cities, our heavy industries, our people and our communities for generations to come, but we will be doing it with new forms of power.

That's why I am very confident about Newcastle's future. When I think about our capacity to generate renewable hydrogen, to stand up a remarkable new offshore wind industry, all of the jobs that are going to come from that—it's phenomenal—the role of solar not just in our region but across the nation and the low-carbon manufacturing that's coming out of industries, I know there's a bright future for our people. This legislation makes sure of that. (Time expired)

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