Pat Conroy (Shortland, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence Industry) Share this | Hansard source

It's actually quite fortuitous to follow the member for Gippsland, who I will compliment: he has passion for his community. But, as a proud representative of the biggest power-generating region in the country, the mighty Hunter Valley and Lake Macquarie region, which produces 50 per cent more power than Gippsland, I would submit his understanding of energy policy is woefully out of date, does not reflect the current reality of economics or engineering and, quite frankly, is symptomatic of a coalition that, when in government, produced 23 energy policies and didn't land a single one of them. That is why so many manufacturing companies have been dealing with higher power prices than they needed to: the last government was incompetent about energy policy, and their incompetence continues in opposition with their mad nuclear folly, which I will refer to later in my speech. I didn't want to let the member for Gippsland's contribution go unanswered given he made claims to represent an energy region. I applaud the workers in Gippsland and their proud contribution to keeping the lights on, which is very important. Unfortunately, their federal representative doesn't understand energy policy. Having said that, I am pleased to make a contribution on the Future Made in Australia Bill 2024 and the Future Made in Australia (Omnibus Amendments No. 1) Bill 2024.

A Future Made in Australia was one of the key policies Labor took to the 2022 election, which Australians voted in favour of, and I know it is going to deliver significant benefits to our country. The legislation includes three key components. It embeds the government's new National Interest Framework to help identify where Australia has a genuine comparative advantage in the net zero economy or where we have an economic security and resilience imperative. It establishes a robust sector assessment process to help improve understanding of how a 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 a future made in Australia support the private sector investment it enables to flow to local communities, workers and businesses.

In addition, the omnibus bill delivers on key parts of the plan that were announced in the 2024-25 budget. It enables Export Finance Australia to make domestically focused investments under the National Interest Account in alignment with the National Interest Framework. It safeguards the $6 billion in funding for ARENA's renewables and related priorities, giving industry and investors certainty to deliver sizeable, long-lasting projects. It sets up arrangements for the Future Made in Australia Innovation Fund to accelerate innovative technology and deployment in priority sectors and makes necessary adjustments to the governance arrangements of ARENA. I want to acknowledge the work of the Prime Minister, the Treasurer, and many of my ministerial colleagues who have contributed to this legislation.

The Albanese Labor government believes that we need to make more things here in Australia. That's at the heart of our Future Made in Australia plan. Making more things here in our great nation and utilising our resources and skills means our economy will grow and new, well-paid jobs will be created. Making the most of the resources we have will spread opportunities right around our country, making Australia wealthier, more secure and more independent.

A Future Made in Australia is an economic plan for a better future. It will see us maximise the economic and industrial benefits of the global transformation to net zero and secure 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 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. The plan builds on other significant measures the Albanese Labor government is delivering, including the National Reconstruction Fund, fee-free TAFE, our investments in defence, and our plan for cheaper, cleaner energy for all Australians.

The Hunter and Central Coast regions are well position to reap the benefits of a Future Made in Australia. We have a proud manufacturing history. My first electorate office in Cardiff bordered the Downer train yards, which manufactured trains and rolling stock for decades. Unfortunately, that work and the associated jobs were lost and sent overseas by previous New South Wales Liberal governments. There is still a Downer facility, but it is not as big as it could be if we had visionary state governments, which we now have.

Today, Cardiff is still a thriving manufacturing hub, ranging from defence industry businesses like 3ME Technology and Nupress to sustainable cosmetic manufacturer Imaginelle. Workers in the Shortland electorate have powered our nation for generations. I've spoken many times in this place about how grateful I am and continue to be for the sacrifices coalminers and energy workers have made and the economic prosperity their hard work has provided and continues to provide. I have also been upfront and honest about the fact that a lot of our power stations are reaching the end of their technical life. They were built in the sixties, seventies and eighties and are reaching the end of their natural life. The question is: what replaces them? The fact is that we need to capitalise on the opportunities presented by renewable energy, which is the cheapest replacement for those power stations when they reach their natural end of life.

We don't have time to waste. We need to act now so that we're not left behind, including the workers and communities of the Hunter and the Central Coast. The Albanese Labor government knows that. That's why, earlier this year, at the Liddell Power Station, we announced our $1 billion investment in the Solar Sunshot program. This will help ensure that more solar panels are made in Australia, including in the Hunter, creating jobs for generations of people in my community. It will create hundreds of new well-paid energy jobs in advanced manufacturing. In fact, there will be more jobs created as a result of this one announcement of one project than what existed at the former Liddell Power Station at its peak. That is what a future made in Australia is all about: making more things here and creating new secure, well-paid jobs.

I think it's important to contrast this investment and foresight with an example of what happens when you've got a government that doesn't have its act together and refuses to take advantage of the opportunities presented by renewable energy. About 90 per cent of the world's solar cells on people's roofs are based on technology developed out of the University of New South Wales, but how many manufacturing jobs have we got out of it? Zero. Why was that? Because we had a Liberal-National government led by John Howard with their heads in the sand who were happy to let these jobs and opportunities go overseas.

And clearly they haven't learned from their mistakes. Instead of seizing the opportunities of cleaner, cheaper renewable energy to power a new generation of secure, well-paid manufacturing jobs in places like the Hunter and the Central Coast, the opposition leader, the Liberals and the Nationals are going down the path of hugely expensive nuclear energy that won't be a reality for decades. The Leader of the Opposition's farcical nuclear policy will cost us billions of dollars and sacrifice the jobs, investment, energy and certainty that we need now. His policy is for hundreds of billions of dollars to be wasted on nuclear power stations that won't be built for decades and will only produce a fraction of the energy we need while driving off investment in other sectors.

If his plan ever comes to fruition, you will have two results. Firstly, we'll see nuclear power stations in the Hunter Valley and in Lake Macquarie that our community is dead opposed to. Let me repeat that: my community does not want nuclear power stations next to our kids' schools, next to playgrounds, next to sporting fields or next to aged-care homes. That is what the Leader of the Opposition is arguing for, and that is what every single Liberal Party member in this House is arguing for. My community doesn't want it, and my manufacturers and businesses don't want the massively increased electricity prices that would go with such a farcical plan. His plan is a recipe for manufacturing devastation, not revitalisation. Don't take my word for it; ask every independent economist, particularly specialists in the power sector. Nuclear energy is the most expensive form of energy around, and it's a recipe for deindustrialisation.

As the Minister for Defence Industry and Capability Delivery, it would be remiss of me not to take the opportunity to talk about what a future made in Australia means for our local defence industry. I'm proud to be the minister for defence industry, and I'm proud of the Australian defence industry that supports around 100,000 jobs—100,000 well-paid, high-skilled jobs that help provide national security for our nation. As I told the House last week, the government has increased the defence budget by $50 billion over the decade and $5.7 billion over the forward estimates, something those opposite are refusing to match. In fact, they're arguing for a $50 billion cut to the defence budget. That is their stated policy.

The government is accelerating the delivery of defence capability, which is having direct benefits for Australian industry compared to the so-called plans of the previous government. Under them, the first infantry fighting vehicle was to be delivered in 2029; under us, it will be in 2027 and made in Victoria. Under them, the first heavy landing craft was to be in 2035; under us, it will be in 2028 and made in Western Australia. Under them, manufacturing missiles, at best, was to start in 2035; under us, we start manufacturing missiles next year.

We're making record investments in the Australian defence industry. The last government only produced one thing in regard to the defence industry, and that was press releases. They had media statements, Top Gun music and a red carpet, but they betrayed the Australian defence industry when they made $42 billion of spending commitments without adding a single cent to the defence budget, without rescoping any other programs and without changing the schedule of anything else. They perpetrated a fraud on the Australian people and the Australian defence industry. Just look at their most symbolic project: the construction of two supply vessels for the Royal Australian Navy. Under the Leader of the Opposition they were built overseas, not in Australia, and under the Leader of the Opposition they were not even able to provide safe drinking water for our sailors. Now we're fixing it, but that's the sort of support for the Australian defence industry that we see under the coalition.

In contrast, the Albanese government's focus on speed to capability will not only result in advanced equipment for the ADF being delivered sooner but will also create more high-skilled, well-paid jobs in the Australian defence industry. This approach is also opening up global opportunities for Australian industry. Under this government, we've negotiated the single largest defence export deal in our nation's history, to supply armoured vehicles made in Queensland to the German Army. This deal is worth over $1 billion and will secure more than 600 direct jobs in Queensland alone, with even more through the supply chain. Through stable leadership and unity of purpose, we are bringing capability forward while supporting a defence future made in Australia.

This debate really does reveal the choice the Australian people have at the election next year. You've got the vision of the Albanese Labor government—a vision to transform critical minerals, like lithium, to support solar panel manufacture in this country. We've been blessed with some of the greatest reserves of critical minerals, rare earths and other inputs into the net zero economy around the globe. The choice is simple: do we transform and value-add them here, or do we continue to be a farm and quarry in respect of those and send them offshore to be value-added in other countries and sent back here? That is the choice. We're all in favour of value-adding. We're all in favour of adding high-skilled, well-paid jobs that also contribute to national security and independence for this country, while those opposite are very content for that to be offshored—to be sent overseas.

That's not a surprise when you look at the appalling history of the coalition when in government. I was here—I was present—for what I believe was the greatest betrayal of the Australian manufacturing sector in the history of the nation. That was when the then Treasurer, Joe Hockey, goaded Holden to leave this country. Their election policy in 2013 was to cut $500 million from the very successful Automotive Transformation Scheme. They cut that $500 million. When they were told that that would lead to the devastation of the auto industry, did they change their policy? Did they resile from that future? No, they embraced it. I saw Joe Hockey stand in this exact spot and glory in telling Holden to leave the country—glory in consigning to the unemployment queue 200,000 workers, when you consider the direct and indirect employment. He gloried in the devastation that wreaked upon Elizabeth in South Australia and in Fishermans Bend in Melbourne. They gloried in destroying manufacturing jobs, and they'll do that again if their nuclear folly is allowed to actually be implemented.

By contrast, the Albanese Labor government believes strongly in a future made in Australia—a future where we value-add, a future where we grow the manufacturing sector, and a future where well-paid, high-skilled Australian manufacturing workers can plan a future, raise a family, buy a house and have a great future in this country. I commend the bill to the House.

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