Colin Boyce (Flynn, Liberal National Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise tonight to make a contribution on the Future Made in Australia (Production Tax Credits and Other Measures) Bill 2024. As we've heard from the minister in her contribution, this is entirely relevant to my seat of Flynn in Central Queensland and particularly the greater Gladstone area, given the fact that Stanwell Corporation, a Queensland GOC, has put forward a proposal to build a hydrogen plant in Gladstone and produce associated products. I will get into that further in a little bit, but first of all I will give an overview of exactly what this bill is.

This bill seeks to implement the government's Future Made in Australia production tax credits for green hydrogen and critical minerals. The bill puts significant compliance obligations on businesses eligible for either a hydrogen or a critical minerals tax credit, including compliance with the community benefit principles and the National Interest Framework, which are defined through the Future Made in Australia Bill 2024, which the coalition is opposing. The hydrogen production tax credit runs until 2040 and does not commence until 2027. To be eligible for the future hydrogen production tax credit, a minimum requirement is for a business to have a production guarantee of origin certificate, which the coalition is also opposing. The tax credit is valued at $2 a kilo, and only green hydrogen is eligible. The critical minerals production tax credit also runs until 2040 and does not commence until 2027. The bill's interactions with other industry programs give the CER, the Department of Industry, Science and Resource and ARENA new roles in tax administration, including allowing the ATO to share protected tax data with these agencies. Foreign resident companies with an ABN and a permanent establishment who conduct eligible business through their Australian establishment will be eligible for these tax credits. The third schedule implements the Future Made in Australia agenda by allowing Indigenous Business Australia to leverage their capital to invest in First Nations communities' businesses by allowing them to borrow against their existing capital.

There are several issues, and they are wide-ranging. This bill embeds nebulous community benefit principles in the tax act. I've got some specific ideas about that, and I simply do not agree with it. The legislation makes eligibility for tax credits conditional on compliance with the community benefits principles, which sit alongside the National Interest Framework. Embedded in the legislation that establishes the National Interest Framework are the community benefit principles, which will be enforced by Future Made in Australia plans. These plans can be made by the Treasurer through regulation and will be enforceable. The community benefit principles embed First Nations procurement and union participation as requirements to access Future Made in Australia funding. Any participant seeking funding under the programs associated with the National Interest Framework will need to develop a Future Made in Australia plan. The BCA, among others, has highlighted that this risks duplicating the sort of embedded procurement processes in state governments that have empowered the CFMEU to monopolise tender markets.

Further, the policy largely doubles up on Labor's Australian Jobs Act 2013, which requires significant investment proposals of $500 million or more to develop an Australian industry participation plan, which is administered and monitored by the department of industry. The coalition opposed this bill back in 2013 on the basis that it added red tape and compliance costs, and the legislation is frequently cited as one of the biggest red tape impediments to investment proposals, along with EPBC approvals. With tax credits being tied to the community benefit principles, it is highly likely that things like businesses' EBA status will be a factor in their eligibility for a discount, and this is likely to be used as a further wedge by union negotiators in a bid to increase unionisation in the mining industry.

As I said earlier, we know there is a significant proposal in Gladstone. The greater Gladstone area has been nominated by the government as a future hydrogen hub, and we know that Stanwell corporation—which is, as I've said, a Queensland government owned corporation—is proposing to build a green hydrogen production facility at Gladstone, where they will use electrolysers—

Debate interrupted.

See this speech in context