Peta Murphy (Dunkley, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Industry and Science. How will the National Reconstruction Fund help Australia to meet key national challenges, including creating new, high-skilled, secure jobs? Why is this important, and what are the risks to these reforms passing parliament?

Ed Husic (Chifley, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Industry and Science) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to thank the member for Dunkley for her question. I know she's very proud of manufacturers in her neck of the woods—manufacturers like Clark Masts, in Carrum Downs, who are our only manufacturer of portable masts used in emergency services communication. It's very important, so please pass on our thanks for their great work, Member for Dunkley.

The National Reconstruction Fund is all about jobs. It's about creating real, paying, secure work in our regions, through to remote Australia, and in our outer suburbs as well—suburbs like Carrum Downs, I might add. These are jobs across the whole supply chain—high-vis jobs, tech jobs. Sustainable jobs creation is at its heart. We want Australia to be a country that makes things, and the National Reconstruction Fund is part of that plan. We hope to see, as a result of the NRF investments, jobs emerge across supply chains and value chains. They will include jobs not just in the production phase but also in research and development at one end, in sales and service at the other, and, in between, in design, logistics, distribution and marketing. According to a 2020 report from the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre, around half of the jobs in modern manufacturing are in the production phase. So, for every 10 jobs we can create on the factory floor, we create two in research, four in logistics and distribution, two in after-sales service, and so on. So the NRF is delivering for jobs across the manufacturing value chain.

But I'm asked about risks. I don't want to say it, but I've got to introduce you, Mr Speaker, to 'the demolition coalition'. They're the wreckers—an opposition defined purely by opposition for its own sake. The contrast couldn't be clearer, Mr Speaker. We're about building the nation up; they're about knocking stuff down. We're about more made in Australia; they're about more made overseas. We're about more manufacturing jobs onshore; they're happy to see them go offshore. The only time that the Liberal and National parties are happy to turn the 'no' into a 'yes' on manufacturing is when there's a chance to pretend in front of the media. They put on the high-vis, strut in front of a mic—it's all lights, camera, cosplay! There they are with the high-vis, lovin' it—lovin' it!

But there's a vote coming up, folks, and they can show whether or not they will back Aussie manufacturing and blue-collar jobs. They will be asked to vote for the National Reconstruction Fund, and it will be on the record: whether they support good, blue-collar jobs in Australian manufacturing or whether they must go back to their communities and explain why they're against Aussie manufacturing.