Dan Repacholi (Hunter, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I'm glad the member for Bradfield has finished his speech, because my ears are hurting from all the predictions he made. Thank you for your predictions, but I'm sure Australia doesn't want to hear predictions; Australia wants to see something get done. And I rise today to speak in support of the Future Made in Australia Bill 2024 and the Future Made in Australia (Omnibus Amendments No. 1) Bill 2024. This legislation aims to reshape our industrial landscape and secure a prosperous future for all Australians.

When I think about this country in its glory days, one sector stands out above all others: the manufacturing sector. We were once a country that made things right here in Australia. We made the mighty Holden Commodore, when our car manufacturing industry was roaring. We produced vast amounts of steel at the BHP steelworks in Newcastle—and if you want to see some of that Newie steel, just look straight above us, because the flagpole is newie steel; that's from Newcastle, that steel. We even made socks and jocks in my electorate, in Cessnock, at the old Bonds factory. Manufacturing is a sector that Australians were proud of, and it often helped to form the identity of our working class towns. That's why Newcastle will always be known as a steel city. But, sadly, year after year, one by one, the businesses that made things here began to close. There are many different reasons for this, and I'm not going to point fingers, but the fact of the matter is that we became a country that just doesn't make things like we used to, and I think that's an absolute tragedy.

Fortunately, this government is a government with a vision—a vision to bring back manufacturing to Australia, a vision to bring back our glory days. We want our future to be made right here. That's why we're investing in a Future Made in Australia, to unlock private investment in future industries and bring new jobs and opportunities to communities right across the country.

We are in an exciting time right now. Plenty of opportunities are presenting themselves, and it's vital that we as a country are placed in a position where we are able to make the most of these opportunities. The world is moving towards net zero; there's no doubt about that. This means there are tonnes of opportunities to make the most of the economic and industrial benefits that are coming. This bill is about positioning us to develop the technology and the products that will not only power our own future but also play a big part in the future of countries all around the world, ensuring that it is our industry and economy that benefit from the changes that are occurring globally. This bill will help Australia build a stronger, more diversified and more resilient economy powered by renewable energy and other technologies of the future. 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.

I don't know about those who sit opposite, but I will never say no to or stand in the way of something that brings well-paid and secure jobs to Australia in the future and now. If we can encourage the private sector to invest and bring these jobs here, then we absolutely should. If you're going to succeed in anything, you need to know your strengths and make the most of them. Our strengths are in our industrial resources, skills and energy base, and our attractiveness as an investment destination. We would be crazy not to make the most of these strengths by building our future here.

This bill recognises this reality and recognises that if our industry and our economy are to grow it will be on the back of our strengths. We already have an advantage in new sectors like renewable energy. We have a lot of land, we are a sunny country and we have lots of places where it's extremely windy. We need to combine this advantage with our 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. Luckily for our industry and our economy, the bill and the omnibus bill deliver on key elements of the government's Future Made in Australia plan announced on the 2024-25 budget. They'll help to deliver our plan by imposing rigour on government decision-making and providing investors with the clarity and certainty to invest and unlock growth in our economy.

It also provides the framework and specific initiatives to mobilise the private capital we need to make the most of shifts in the global economy. As the Prime Minister has repeatedly outlined, the Hunter will play a huge role in achieving this ambition. Ahead of us lie big nation-building and region-building endeavours that can propel us forward. With the backing of the $22 billion Future Made in Australia fund, it is a great time for regions, especially regions like mine, where we've been manufacturing and building things for a long time and plan to do so well into the future. By making the most of this transition, we are creating safe, secure jobs for our workers to move into as our traditional industries start to change over time.

Unlike some of those opposite, who just play dress-up and pretend to understand the needs of the regions, Labor has a real vision to keep regional Australia booming. We won't hold back on making the most of the opportunities of the future. Unlike those opposite, our vision is not pie-in-the-sky nuclear power plants that wouldn't be here in the next 20 years even if they had it their way. Our vision is backed by real action on the ground, real funding, real programs and real jobs right now. That's what the Labor government's Future Made in Australia plan is all about.

This boom is especially good for regional Australia, electorates like mine in the Hunter and electorates like Paterson, Newcastle and Shortland as well. Those areas really do need this. In the Hunter we are building on our strengths with our manufacturing background and strong skill base. We are in the heart of many great industries in the Hunter, and the $23 billion Future Made in Australia package will ensure we are the heart of many great industries for generations to come. Our success in the Hunter will be Australia's success.

Take Ampcontrol, a great company based in our region, with two workshops in the Hunter. This company is building innovative electric products that are cleaner and more reliable than the ageing products they are replacing. They have jumped on the opportunities the clean energy transition is creating and, in doing so, they are manufacturing in the Hunter, creating safe, secure and well-paid jobs. The products are cutting edge and not just being used in Australia but also being exported overseas.

We have also announced we will be building world-class solar panels on the sites of decommissioned power stations like at Liddell.

As the world changes and industry changes, workers feel a sense of uncertainty, but, by establishing new industries with well-paid, secure jobs, workers can see the direction that we're heading in the future and they will have the certainty they need to be able to embrace it.

There are very specific kinds of investment that we want this bill to drive. We want investments that promote safe and secure jobs that are well paid and have great conditions. We want investments to develop more skilled and inclusive workforces, including by investing in training and skills development and broadening opportunities for workplace participation. We also want investments that encourage and work together to achieve positive outcomes for local communities such as First Nations communities and communities directly affected by the transition to net zero. We also want investments that strengthen domestic industrial capabilities, including through stronger local supply chains that demonstrate transparency and compliance in relation to the management of their tax affairs, including benefits received under Future Made in Australia supports. If we have people or companies making investments that tick all of these boxes, we will be well placed to build a future here and make the most of the challenges that will come.

At the end of the day, the Future Made in Australia Bill will do three critical things. It empowers the government's new National Interest Framework to identify where we have a genuine advantage over other countries as we transition to net zero economy. This ensures that we enter this new economy on the strongest foot possible, playing to our strengths. It establishes a robust sector assessment process to help improve understanding of how government can best leverage private investment in areas of the economy aligned with the framework and help inform rigorous government decision-making. It defines a set of community benefit principles to ensure that the benefits of the Future Made in Australia support, and the private sector investment it enables, flow to local communities, workers and businesses. We need this bill for our country to grow and our economy to boom in years to come. This bill is good for industry, good for our economy and good for jobs. It's a win for all.

I want to continue a little bit now that I've finished the main part of my speech. I've heard a lot of people talk in this chamber, and I talk to thousands of people in the Hunter regularly. They tell me that they want to see us work together. They want to see both sides of this place and the crossbench work together so that we can make Australia a better place. Unfortunately, those opposite us here—some of them, many of them, if not all of them—are just saying no for the sake of saying no, and that's an absolute disgrace. This is $23 billion to go towards manufacturing in this country that those opposite are saying no to—that is absolutely terrible for the people of Australia. It shows those opposite have no faith in manufacturing for us in this country, while we on this side of the chamber know that that $23 billion will be spent very well. It will be spent on the right things to get manufacturing back in this country so that, hopefully, we can make socks and jocks back in Cessnock again. Hopefully, we can see so much other manufacturing happen: steel, and so many other things that can happen in the Hunter and Patterson and so many other places as well.

I am sure that in the next 12 months or so those opposite, when we go to an election, will try to use a speech like this against me into the future. What I want to say to the people of the Hunter is: while people want to buy our coal, we will always supply them that coal. We will always supply the export market. That is what Labor will do and that is what I will always fight for. That is what the member for Paterson will always fight for, that's what the member for Shortland will always fight for, and that is what the member for Newcastle will always fight for. Please just remember that when we do go to an election, because this will definitely come up. What I really hope is that those opposite stop saying no to everything that we put forward when we are trying to make Australia better. I really hope that we can work together—most Australians want us to work together—to try to make Australia a better place. Please, let's just work together and put our differences aside with politics. I know we have a little joke here and there, and I understand that, but we need to make sure we're doing the best for Australia. Let's work together and actually do that, because I guarantee we will have a lot more respect from the people of the Hunter and the people of the rest of Australia as well.

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