Andrew Gee (Calare, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to make a contribution on the Future Made in Australia Bill 2024 on behalf of the communities of Calare and central western New South Wales. I have listened to the debate on both sides of the aisle. The opposition's approach has been a wholesale rejection of the bill, dismissing it out of hand. While I agree that there are definitely flaws in this bill, I think a more constructive approach is warranted.

This bill is well-intentioned and deserves proper consideration on its merits, not just pointscoring. For example, one of the arguments used against the bill by the member for Hume was that this bill would be inflationary. I had to smile when I heard those words. Let's get one thing straight. The fuse on the inflation bomb, which has now exploded and which is causing pain and grief across Australia—in particular, in regional communities—was well and truly lit during the course of the previous government. People may not recall, but for the first time the Reserve Bank of Australia resorted to doing what is called quantitative easing, which is a fancy way of saying the Reserve Bank resorted to printing money in order to pay for the extraordinary spending spree.

It wasn't just the government of the day that's to blame. The opposition was well and truly along for the hayride, and they probably would have spent more if they'd been in power then. Indeed, the only thing the government did not do during COVID was drop money on communities out of helicopters, and believe it or not there is actually a thing called helicopter money. So, if you want to talk about who was to blame for the inflation bomb, there's plenty of blame to go around on both sides of the House, and we need to be upfront, open and honest about that.

Leaving aside the political argy-bargy between the major parties, it has to be acknowledged that there are positive aspects to this bill. Five priority industries or sectors have been developed, including critical minerals processing and renewable hydrogen. Here is my concern. I am looking at this bill through the looking glass of regional Australia and attempting to determine what benefit there could be. Critical minerals processing is obviously an important one. There may be benefit in central western New South Wales in this. Boosting critical minerals—

See this speech in context