Steve Irons (Swan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last week I had the pleasure of having the Assistant Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, Craig Laundy, the member for Reid, in my electorate of Swan. It was a big day for the assistant minister, checking out some of the exciting projects that are happening in Swan. To begin with, we attended an event that was held by the West Coast Eagles within the Town of Victoria Park to celebrate the turning of the sod at the Eagles' new $65 million home in the area of Lathlain Park, in my electorate of Swan. It was a great opportunity for the assistant minister to see how big this project was and how the world-class facilities will be coming to Lathlain Park in my electorate of Swan. And I must say that, even though the assistant minister is a dyed-in-the-wool GWS fan, it was great to see him getting snaps with some of the legend West Coast Eagles players like Nic Naitanui and also with the eagle.

Next up on the assistant minister's tour of Swan was the Fero Group for a tour of their expansive premises and, of course, their new galvanising plant, which received $4.9 million through the coalition government's Manufacturing Transition Program grant. The total cost of the project was $25 million, and the new plant has the capacity to treat some 100,000 tonnes of steel products, double the capacity of the plant it has replaced. The Fero Group was started locally, in Swan, back in the 1970s. Mario Franco has worked tirelessly to build his company from the ground up, and now his two sons, Michael and Robert, are the managing director and finance director of Fero and have continued to drive the Fero Group forward. The new environmentally sound galvanising plant is Australia's largest, most modern hot-dip galvanising plant, and is located in Kewdale. The investment in the new galvanising plant and other modern manufacturing facilities has ensured it can successfully compete worldwide for manufactured products. Exports account for some 15 per cent of the volume of the manufactured products.

Whilst we were at the Fero Group, Assistant Minister Laundy was able to listen to the concerns of Mario and his sons regarding the threat from overseas imported products. Fero recently participated in a tender to supply some underground support products to an existing client providing Australian-made steel products from Bluescope and from a zinc mine in Townsville. Unfortunately, the contract was lost to a competitor because the products were being imported fully furnished from China. It was a great opportunity for the assistant minister to hear firsthand the impact this is having on Australian companies and their industries.

I'd like to thank the team at Fero for hosting us and showing us around the premises. The work you're doing serves as a great example to Australian companies. I'd also like to thank Assistant Minister Laundy for the work he's doing to ensure our government continues to support industry and innovation not only in my electorate of Swan but across this country. Again, congratulations to the Fero Group on the number of people that they employ in my electorate of Swan.