Tania Lawrence (Hasluck, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

From Australia's western third, we look out to the Indian Ocean, the Southern Ocean or the Timor Sea. The rest of Australia is a long way from most of us. We have a different perspective—quite literally. We're proud of the contributions we've already made to Australia, and we look forward to the contributions we will make. To this end, I'm really pleased to speak on the member for Swan's motion.

An honourable member: North Queensland has [inaudible]!

Indeed! I particularly want to draw out that the member for Swan has endeavoured to cover a lot of different areas, because, as Western Australians, we aren't just there as the cash cow and the engine room of the nation's economy. We are a people who are very proud of where we come from, but we understand also Western Australia's particular needs, providing the community with levels of infrastructure and support that ensure it is a place where people want to live, work and recreate. Given the size of our state spans from Victoria all the way to Northern Queensland, it goes without saying that the differences are quite vast.

To this end, the member for Swan has applauded not just the efforts of the federal government but also the partnership with the state Cook Labor government around infrastructure for major projects such as the Causeway Pedestrian and Cyclist Bridges, the Westport project development, METRONET—the most significant rail infrastructure build that Western Australia has ever had—and the Tonkin Highway Corridor. There are so many other major works that have to happen in order to move the enormous amounts of resources that are produced from our great state.

But it's not just the infrastructure projects; we need to have that surety of funding. To this end, we have a federal government that has Western Australia's back. Being an economic powerhouse of the nation, Western Australia needs to be supported. Prime Minister Albanese is on the record as a leader fully committed to supporting Western Australia and its GST deal. The opposition leader has nothing to say on this matter. Leading Liberals like Malcolm Turnbull, Scott Morrison and Julie Bishop all cast doubt on his level of support for our GST deal. If we want to be able to ensure that Western Australia continues to drive the Australian economy, we need to ensure that well-paying jobs and security come with the right to our fair share of the GST.

A good part of the motion that the member for Swan has introduced points to the critical infrastructure sector. We are a vast state with enormous resources that benefit the entire nation, and the figures differ. The CME suggests that Western Australia contributes some $99 billion to the national economy with some 66,000 directly employed Australians. But the state forecasts are actually even more, with the mining sector contributing about $186 billion to the state's gross product. That as a share of the federal budget is at least six per cent. Needless to say, the numbers are vast, and it demonstrates the importance of supporting the sector.

The Albanese government's Future Made in Australia plan was music to sandgropers' ears. We're working, planning and building for an Australia that does not just provide homes, secure jobs, skilled workers and clean, cheap energy; the plan also unlocks the private sector investment required to be able to succeed in the new global economy. We're working to strengthen the global supply chains for our critical minerals and we're building the resilience of the industry. Of course, we've got a wealth of those critical minerals right under our feet, and they are needed for the solar panels, batteries and wind turbines. Without them, we simply are not able to transition to net zero.

We do really excel at extracting critical minerals, but now the challenge is to move into that processing stream. To that end, we're assisting young people to develop the necessary skills, with more than half a million fee-free TAFE places. Here I'd like to pay tribute to the outstanding work being done by my colleagues Madeleine King, the Minister for Resources, and Andrew Giles, the Minister for Skills and Training.

We know that there are geopolitical challenges impacting the critical minerals sector, and we're working on them, but we're also delivering incentives backed by industry, such as our production tax incentive. The $17 billion production tax incentive for critical minerals processing will grow the resources sector in a way that benefits all of our resource-rich states and, by extension, all of us. In Western Australia alone, it will boost $10 billion worth of critical mineral projects. Western Australia is where it's at, and I'm glad the Albanese Labor government gets Western Australia.

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