Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Companies using Australian minerals to manufacture solar panels to put on our roofs are what this legislation is about. It's about researchers making breakthroughs in science that will lead to new medicines. Under Labor, we're generating 25 per cent more renewable energy and we've ticked off enough renewable projects to power three million homes. On this side of the chamber, we believe in Australian ingenuity, we believe in Australians' capacity to work together and, most importantly, we believe it is our duty to respond to the crisis of global warning and to be part of the solution. This is an opportunity for Australia. We're compelled to do it because it's the right thing to do; why wouldn't we grab that opportunity with both hands and drive manufacturing in this country? It will create opportunities in our regions and our suburbs, in our factories and our labs, in our TAFEs and our unis.

It is mind-boggling to listen to those opposite this week express a lack of faith in Australia's competitive capability. That lack of faith reflects what they truly believe about our country. What they truly believe about our country is that we're second rate. They believe we're second class. I don't. I believe this is the best country in the world. I believe in the capacity of Australians. I've spent my life working with young people in this country. I know what they're capable of; I taught them. I know them. They are capable of anything. I wish those opposite believed the same. I wish they believed that we were capable of leading the world as we have done time and time again. I wish that, when we celebrated the gold medals of our athletes, those opposite believed we could win gold medals in manufacturing, but they don't. They don't believe you can pick winners, because they don't believe we are winners. That's the bottom line and what I've learnt in the two days of this debate. That is what I've heard.

The Labor government is about creating opportunity in our regions, and I would think the member for Kennedy would want to talk about our regions and creating opportunities in our regions, because the member for Kennedy represents an incredibly large region in this country where ingenuity has been demonstrated for decades. We need a government prepared to step up and do its part, and this legislation is this government saying that that's exactly what we will do, that we will fund the apprenticeships, attract the investment to build the infrastructure, boost the industries and back the ideas of Australians.

In closing, I find it incredibly disappointing those opposite, from opposition, want to stand in the way of Australia moving forward. I know that that's echoed in the place I represent. They want to move forward. They want to be a place where manufacturing occurs. They want a better life for their children than you left them after a decade in office.

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