Fiona Martin (Reid, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Industry, Science and Technology. Will the minister outline how the Morrison government's Australian approach to industry and businesses is securing our place as a world-leading manufacturer of quality products as part of our plan to build a stronger economy and jobs?

Karen Andrews (McPherson, Liberal Party, Minister for Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for her question and for her support of manufacturers in her electorate of Reid. It's absolutely true that we have a world-class manufacturing sector here in Australia. It's diverse, it's cutting edge and it has a reputation for producing high-quality, value-added products and goods. From our very traditional heavy industry, which in itself is highly advanced, right through to our cutting-edge startups, we are taking on the world, and the outlook is overwhelmingly positive. Quite frankly, everyone right across Australia should be rightly proud of our Aussie manufacturers, because they have done an outstanding job for us.

BlueScope Steel is a great Aussie manufacturer, one of our leading success stories and one of the world leaders in producing steel products. They've announced that they are going to invest in expanding their Port Kembla smelter after recording a 78 per cent lift in first-half profits. The CEO said Australian manufacturing is on the best footing he's seen for decades and that, in his lifetime, he's not had the 'feedback and positive context out of Canberra'.

As I've said, BlueScope is a fantastic Aussie story, but it's not just our traditional manufacturing companies that are feeling very positive at the moment. Last week in Canberra, I visited one of our space manufacturers, Skykraft. They are building more than 200 small satellites to improve our communications, our travel and even our banking. It's highly specialised; it's cutting-edge manufacturing. Like many other Aussie manufacturers, they looked at how they could build a supply chain from within Australia, and one of the businesses that they have been working with is a business by the name of XTEK, which is producing the special carbon fibre that they need for their satellites.

This is exactly what this government is wanting to stimulate through our Modern Manufacturing Strategy, the $1.5 billion that we have committed to grow manufacturing here in Australia, and we are well on the way to delivering outcomes on that policy. The first round of grant funding opened for the space sector last Friday, and we will continue to roll out, over the coming weeks, the programs for our other national manufacturing priority sectors—that is, resources, technology and critical minerals processing, medical products, food and beverage, waste and recycling, and defence. We are absolutely playing to our strengths as a nation and we will continue to do so.