Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

First of all, I want to thank all of the members who have contributed to this debate over the past fortnight. I think the vast majority of the colleagues on this side of the House have made good, considered, meaningful contributions to this debate, unlike the member just a moment ago, but I appreciate all of the contributions that have been made over the past fortnight or so. I'm grateful for the opportunity to sum up that debate for the Future Made in Australia Bill 2024 and the Future Made in Australia (Omnibus Amendments No. 1) Bill 2024 that the Minister for Climate Change and Energy introduced a couple of weeks ago.

These two bills are a major step in implementing the Albanese Labor government's Future Made in Australia agenda to deliver our country's next generation of prosperity. They're all about helping make Australia a renewable energy superpower and an indispensable part of the global net zero economy. It's all about more closely aligning our national security and our economic security interests. It's all about modernising and strengthening our economy in a world powered increasingly by cleaner and cheaper energy. It's also about grabbing the vast industrial and economic opportunities which flow from the global energy transformation and to share the benefits of those opportunities in communities right across the country.

The Future Made in Australia Bill 2024 embeds into law the strict criteria and robust processes that will guide our decision-making and set us up for success. The legislation is built on three main pillars: firstly, the National Interest Framework, which will help us identify sectors where we have a sustained comparative advantage in the new net zero economy or an economic resilience and security imperative to invest; secondly, a robust sector assessment process to help us better understand and break down barriers to private investment in key areas of our economy; and, thirdly, a set of community benefit principles that will help ensure that public investment and the private investment that it generates and leverages lead to strong returns and stronger communities.

The Future Made in Australia (Omnibus Amendments No. 1) Bill 2024 steps out how we will put that discipline and rigour into practice by expanding the roles of Export Finance Australia and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency so that they can make investments consistent with our National Interest Framework. Together, the two bills recognise that the world is changing as the planet moves to that future powered by cheaper and cleaner energy. Amidst this change, Australia has been dealt the most incredible set of cards, and we need to play those cards to make ourselves the primary beneficiaries of this new net zero economy. We've got a unique combination—a very advantageous combination—of geological, meteorological, geographical and geopolitical advantages, and we know it would be an egregious breach of our generational responsibilities as a government if we didn't play this winning hand.

So we welcome and acknowledge the discussion, the debate and the public scrutiny of these bills that has occurred in the House over the past two weeks. I might also say how grateful I am to crossbench members for the opportunity to meet and discuss elements of these deals with them particularly this week. I think the debate has shown that many members of this House understand that these bills will help Australia grasp the jobs and opportunities of the energy transformation. And I think members understand that they will help give investors the clarity and the certainty they need in order to invest and unlock growth in our economy and understand that these bills will ensure that the benefits of that investment flow to our people and communities.

During the debate many members on this side of the House and on the crossbench acknowledged how important it is, for Australia's prosperity, to get this legislation right. We have listened to the points made about transparency and rigour around investment decisions. That is precisely why we are enshrining the framework and processes underpinning a Future Made in Australia into the law that is before us. It's why the National Interest Framework will be supported by transparent Treasury led analysis to the extent that sectors align with the framework, and these assessments will be tabled in parliament. A number of amendments have been moved in relation to the Future Made in Australia Bill 2024. Again, we thank members for their engagement with the bill, and we will consider the detailed amendments put to us in good faith.

We have also, unfortunately, heard some pretty bizarre and unhinged contributions from those opposite. One said that prioritising local communities, secure jobs and skills is 'Orwellian'! The same joker said that putting national security and economics together is 'ideological'! The same person described the Australian Renewable Energy Agency as a slush fund, which is surprising, because it was the shadow Treasurer who said that, and he oversaw the Australian Renewable Energy Agency for about four years as the minister responsible for it! He described it as a slush fund. The opposition member who spoke a moment ago talked in similar terms. It hasn't dawned on them—they haven't taken the time to understand—that, of the $22.7 billion allocated in the budget for this Future Made in Australia plan, around $22 billion is a combination of tax breaks determined by production or investments determined by independent arm's-length bodies: ARENA, NZEA and others. Either that is a point that has been lost on those opposite or they are being deliberately dishonest about it.

The opposition's arguments in the debate reaffirmed what we already knew: this is a contest between the maddies over there and the mainstream over here. We are part of a new global orthodoxy. Our view is mainstream. It's middle of the road. It's all about sharing the views of the investment community here and abroad, who do understand this opportunity that's before us. I met with the Investor Group on Climate Change this week. I met with the AWU and the AMWU this week. There is a broad constituency—a very mainstream, middle-of-the-road constituency—representing workers, representing the investor community, who understand, appreciate and support what we are proposing in these bills.

I think sensible people know that it would be self-defeating to let the global net zero opportunity pass us by. That's why it's important that we pass these bills. The time to act on this is now. The world is changing, with or without Australia, and the golden opportunity in front of us will disappear if we take too long. And if we get stuck in the past our people will be poorer, our economy will be weaker and our country will be more vulnerable. That's why we need to progress this legislation that is before the House and why I'm proud to commend these bills to the House.

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