Ed Husic (Chifley, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Industry and Science) Share this | Hansard source

I want to thank the member for their question because they know, like everyone on this side of the House knows, how critically important our Future Made in Australia plans are, rebuilding manufacturing capability in this country. We lived the experience of the pandemic. The things we needed most weren't there when we needed them. We needed to rebuild our ability to make things in this country. We recognise the vulnerabilities of depending on concentrated supply chains that didn't deliver for us. Being able to rebuild manufacturing capabilities to help us respond to global and national challenges, like the transition to net zero, can also, importantly, create great jobs. Strong economies possess strong manufacturing capabilities, and they create strong, secure, well-paid jobs, which is really important to the nation. We want to use our Future Made in Australia plans to revitalise manufacturing, grow jobs and make the transition to net zero easier for the nation. But what are we confronted with? We're confronted with, again, an unholy alliance—the Liberals, the Nationals and the Greens—all saying they'll vote against it.

I note the presence of Hansard—hello, I'm a big fan. I have to say that I was going to call Hansard today because some of the debate that we saw from those opposite last night was something else. The shadow Treasurer didn't fail to deliver. Bear in mind that this is the same Liberal Party that, in government, saw off 100,000 manufacturing jobs and saw off the car industry. In opposition they also voted against the National Reconstruction Fund, and they also voted against energy price relief to help our manufacturers. And then you had the shadow Treasurer say that the coalition has always supported manufacturing, followed by another clanger, where the shadow Treasurer said that he'd worked for decades in manufacturing—for that noted manufacturer, McKinsey & Company. Thinking of Angus as a manufacturing worker is like thinking of Derek Zoolander as a coalminer. It just doesn't fit.

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