Anne Stanley (Werriwa, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

On change, Walt Disney once said, 'Times and conditions change so rapidly that we must keep our aim constantly focused on the future'. This quote is relevant to the bills before us today. In fact, we were talking about Fantasia not long ago. For certain, governments must meet today's challenges. The Albanese government, most recently in the 2024 budget, did this by outlining a suite of announcements to address the cost-of-living pressures faced by Australians everywhere. Tax cuts, energy relief and capping the cost of PBS medicines are just part of that suite of policies. As Walt Disney said, governments need to look beyond the horizon. They need to see beyond immediacy and cast forward to the future. It is called leadership, and this bill is an excellent example of just that.

The bill of course has its origins in the recent budget delivered by the Treasurer, but it also has origins in Labor's very own DNA and ethos. In Bowman Hall in Blacktown, back in November 1972, Gough Whitlam famously said:

The decision we will make for our country … is a choice between the past and the future, between the habits and fears of the past, and the demands and opportunities of the future.

Labor is never afraid of looking at the future. We've been the government of vision and change: think Medicare, think superannuation, think the NDIS. These have built and shaped our nation for the better, and, for certain, we will never be constrained by the habits and fears of the past like those opposite. They are paralysed in the past, looking for answers in old encyclopedias and almanacs in an age of broadband and wireless connectivity. Indeed, the very title of the bill before us displays the confidence of the Albanese government and its confidence in Australians and Australia's future.

Australia can't rely on the actions of other countries to secure our future. We must do it ourselves. We will do it ourselves. This bill will help Australia to do just that. Labor's plan for a future made in Australia is simple. We want Australia to be a country that makes more things here, because making things here will grow our economy and create good jobs. We'll put the talents of our people and our incredible natural resources to work, making things here so we are not simply shipping everything overseas and importing them back as finished products. We know this is possible, because it's already happening.

The measures outlined in this bill will ensure that Australia benefits from the global transition to net zero, that Australia can unlock private investment in the industries of the future and that Australians benefit from the new jobs and opportunities that that brings. This bill contains several components to help implement the Albanese government's Future Made in Australia plan. The first will be to embed the government's National Interest Framework, helping to identify sectors where Australia has a genuine comparative advantage within the net zero economy and helping to better align economic incentives with the national interest.

By legislating the framework, the investment community will have the certainty they need to invest in scale in future industries. The framework includes two streams: the net zero transformation scheme and the economic resilience and security stream. The net zero transformation scheme will cover those sectors where Australia could have a comparative advantage in a net zero economy and where public investment is likely to be needed for the sector to make significant contributions to emissions reduction. The economic resilience and security stream covers the sectors where a level of domestic capability is necessary for Australia's economic resilience and security but where the private sector will not provide the necessary investment without government support. Both of these streams are critical, and legislating them will ensure that there is certainty for the communities investing in these issues.

It is vital there is a legislated framework to help identify those critical sectors Australia can excel in. It will ensure not only that Australian communities can benefit from the transition to net zero but also that our economic resilience can. At the direction of the Treasurer, the Treasury may also conduct independent sector assessments to assess whether areas of the economy also align with the National Interest Framework and how government can reduce barriers to investment within those sectors. These assessments will also be made public to ensure proper transparency in government decision-making. And to ensure that both public and private investment benefit local workers and businesses in our community, a set of community benefit principles will be applied to the Future Made in Australia supports.

The Albanese government wants more safe and secure jobs that are well paid and have good conditions while investments are made in more training and skills development for the Australian workforce. These principles will promote better collaboration with local communities, such as First Nation communities and those directly affected by the net zero transition, and will strengthen Australia's local supply chains and industrial capabilities.

The bills will establish the Future Made in Australia plans as an avenue to implement the community benefit principles, with further details to satisfy these plan requirements subject to consultation on a program-by-program basis. Additionally, the bills identify the Future Made in Australia supports which community benefit principles apply to. These include initial supports such as the Future Made in Australia Innovation Fund, as well as certain investments which are considered for funding under the expanded National Interest Account of Export Finance Australia. The minister will be able to add other supports which will be subject to the community benefit principles.

These bills also make amendments to the Export Finance Australia legislation to allow EFA to make domestically focused investments to fund projects that align with the Future Made In Australia framework streams. Amendments will also be made to the Australian Renewable Energy Agency Act, ensuring that ARENA can support sectors that are critical to net-zero transition. ARENA's funding will be futureproofed by creating a limited special appropriation within its legislation and an additional fourth object that will be added to the ARENA Act, which is to contribute to the reduction of global greenhouse gas emissions in accordance with the Paris Agreement. This explicit reference to global emission reductions will enable ARENA to support the development and manufacture of renewable energy products for export that will contribute to the decarbonisation of the global economy and also the Australian economy. Further amendments to ARENA will enable it to meet its increased responsibilities and role as part of the net-zero transition already taking place in the Australian economy.

This chamber will have noted that at times I invoke the words of my predecessor in Werriwa the 21st Prime Minister. I do so for good reason, for Gough was first and foremost a proud Australian. He was a prime minister unashamedly confident about Australia's place in the region and the world. Further, he had an unshaken confidence in the ability of all Australians. He didn't live in the past. His maxim, 'contemporary relevance', dictated his life's work and the direction that he saw for this country. This bill before us reinforces the confidence of our latest Labor government and our latest Labor Prime Minister. It does not look back, and it doesn't shy away from future challenges. It sets out a broad and ambitious agenda in a manner that is achievable.

We cannot and must not look over our shoulders, because we don't have time to waste. Right now, the world is moving forward to renewable energy, and for us, as the sunniest, windiest continent on the earth, this is our moment. More than anywhere else on the earth, Australia is set to gain new jobs, new industries, and new skills. Our future is made in Australia. That's what A Future Made in Australia is all about—a stronger economy made right here. But we need a government prepared to step up and do its part to fund apprenticeships, attract investment, build infrastructure, boost industries and back the ideas. That's what this bill does. I commend the bill to the House in the full confidence it reflects the confidence we should have in ourselves as a nation.

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