Jerome Laxale (Bennelong, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move the motion relating to Future Made in Australia in the terms in which it appears on the Notice Paper:

That this House:

(1) commends the Government's Future Made in Australia plan that is securing Australia's position in the changing global economy;

(2) notes the Government is maximising the opportunities of the net zero transformation by:

(a) providing $168.1 million to better prioritise approval decisions for renewable energy projects of national significance and support faster decisions on environment, cultural heritage and planning approvals;

(b) investing $3.2 billion over the next decade through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency to support the commercialisation of technologies that are critical to net zero, including through a new $1.7 billion Future Made in Australia Innovation Fund;

(c) investing an estimated $8 billion over the decade in production incentives for renewable hydrogen, supporting new export and manufacturing opportunities;

(d) investing an estimated $7 billion over 11 years in production tax incentives to support downstream refining and processing of Australia's 31 critical minerals;

(e) committing $1.5 billion to manufacturing clean energy technologies, including the $1 billion Solar Sunshot and $523.2 million Battery Breakthrough, and launching the National Battery Strategy; and

(f) undertaking a strategic examination of Australia's research and development system, and investing $38.2 million in a range of science, technology, engineering, and maths (STEM) programs to increase diversity in STEM; and

(3) calls on the Opposition to support Australia's manufacturing future and the creation of more secure, well-paid jobs.

Labor believes in a future made in Australia. It has become clear over the past few weeks that the Liberals and Nationals do not. A future made in Australia will boost productivity, create secure jobs and build our future prosperity amid global energy transition and industrial transformation. The Liberals' future of manufacturing puts all that at risk.

Unlike the Liberals, Labor acknowledges and understands the crucial role of manufacturing technology and innovation in delivering this ambition. We don't just turn up to photo opportunities in high-vis like the Liberals do; we actually back industry and workers with good policy, funding and a vision. Our vision for manufacturing in Australia involves renewable energy, critical minerals, onshore processing and helping the world decarbonise. To that end, in the budget we have boosted the Australian Renewable Energy Agency with a $5.1 billion investment. This includes $1.7 billion for the Future Made in Australia Innovation Fund, which aims to unlock private capital for new industries such as green metals and low-carbon liquid fuels. Additionally, $1.5 billion is dedicated to kickstarting domestic manufacturing in solar and battery industries, ensuring that Australia not only consumes but produces key renewable energy technologies.

To do all this, we need to ensure that we have a skilled workforce. We're investing $91 million to turbocharge training and apprenticeships in the clean energy sector, because, without a local workforce, we will not meet our potential. Our investments in a future made in Australia aim to secure Australia's energy future and enhance our international competitiveness. By investing strategically in renewable energy technologies and infrastructure, we are positioning Australia as a global leader in the clean energy sector.

To decarbonise the world, we'll also need green hydrogen for energy intensive industries. To that end, we are building on the $2 billion Hydrogen Headstart program by establishing a new hydrogen production tax incentive. This manufacturing tax incentive will provide a $2-per-kilogram rebate for each kilogram of renewable hydrogen produced. These incentives will drive innovation and investment, making Australia a leader in green hydrogen production and export. Under Labor, in two years, thousands of new jobs have been created. We are seeing more renewable energy in our grid, and we are well on the way to becoming the renewable energy superpower that we have the potential to be. Our nation is rich in critical minerals such as lithium, cobalt and rare earth elements, which are essential for producing batteries, electric vehicles and other clean energy technologies.

Unlike those opposite, we don't just want to dig up things out of the ground and shift them offshore. We want to make things here. We want to make batteries here. We want to make solar panels here. While the Liberals and Nationals ridicule our ambition, we back our workers and our ingenuity to make it happen. Australia can supply the world with solar panels. We invented the technology, and we have all the minerals we need to make them. The same goes for batteries. Global demand for batteries is set to quadruple by 2030 as the world transitions to net zero. On batteries, we will focus on high-value battery products in Australia's area of competitive advantage, including manufacturing energy storage systems for renewable grids, providing battery-active materials to the world and supplying batteries to our transport manufacturing industry, including heavy vehicle manufacturing.

Our vision is clear: a reliable and renewable future made in Australia. We believe in our ingenuity and our workforce to seize these immense economic opportunities. Contrast Labor's vision for a future made in Australia—anchored in renewable energy, batteries, solar and green hydrogen—to the backwards, denialist position of the Liberals and Nationals. Let's never forget that they were a government that chased manufacturing offshore. They dared our auto industry to leave, and then they were shocked when it did. They are the parties that ridiculed rail workers in New South Wales and shipbuilders in South Australia. They talked them down and said that things couldn't be made here. With their record as it is, is it any surprise that they oppose A Future Made in Australia? They will line up here with every excuse under the sun to oppose our plan to build more things here.

With A Future Made in Australia, the choice is very clear. Labor wants to harness our resources and expertise to build a sustainable and prosperous future for all Australian, and the Liberals will just oppose it. We back our workers to transform and grow our economy, and it's only a Labor government that can achieve it.

Terry Young (Longman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is there a seconder for the motion?

Carina Garland (Chisholm, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Michael McCormack (Riverina, National Party, Shadow Minister for International Development and the Pacific) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The motion put forward by the member for Bennelong is commendable, but he is very short-sighted in the approach he has taken in addressing the issues facing A Future Made in Australia. Let's go through them. It's a shame he's leaving the chamber. If you're going to put one of these motions, you really should stay to listen to others and to proffer arguments to help the speakers who will follow you. Anyway, he will probably learn in relation to that.

When Labor were last in office, they promised $6.2 billion to keep car manufacturing in Australia, claiming it would leverage $16 billion in investment and secure jobs throughout the 2020s. But what did they deliver? The facts show that 20,500 jobs in motor vehicle and component manufacturing were lost under Labor. At major manufacturers, vehicle production fell by more than 36 per cent between 2007 and 2012—Labor years. Conveniently lost on Labor is that Mitsubishi and Ford announced they would leave the Australian market on Labor's watch. They conveniently forget or overlook that. Across Labor's last term in office, 6,800 manufacturing businesses closed their doors, and more than 37,300 manufacturing jobs were lost in their last year in office alone.

We see now, under a Labor government, record numbers of small businesses going to the wall—going bankrupt. They can't keep the door open. This is such a shame, and there are a number of factors in that, not least of which is the higher power prices. They just can't seem to pay the bills, and why would they be able to pay the bills when Labor, having promised prior to the May 2022 election that they would cut power prices, have done the complete opposite when it comes to ensuring lower power prices for households, for small businesses and, indeed, for manufacturing?

Of course, when we talk about 'made in Australia' on this WA Day, we look at Labor's record with Western Australia. Their failures on borders and migration mean that that it's harder to buy a house and less safe to walk the streets in WA. But worse than that in one sense is that they are shutting down our live sheep export industry. When introducing the Export Control Amendment (Ending Live Sheep Exports by Sea) Bill 2024, the member for Ballarat, a regional member, said this:

We all know Australians love their lamb, and now the rest of the world is catching on with demand for lamb and mutton products continuing to grow.

If that's the case, why would you shut down an industry which is made right here in Australia, with sheep produced right here in Australia, and why would the Treasurer go to the dispatch box, in delivering his third budget, and pay $107 million to Australian farmers to stop farming? That's what he's doing: he's paying $107 million to stop sheep farmers in Western Australia from doing what they are good at—what they are the world's best at. Our Australian farmers—make no mistake—are the best in the world. But here we have a Labor government saying that it's going to protect Australian industries, preserve Australian jobs and grow industry and, at the same time, the budget puts in $107 million to shut down an industry which provides world's best practice.

The member for Bennelong talked about critical minerals. I'm not quite sure how many critical minerals there are in the seat of Bennelong, but I have plenty of critical minerals in my electorate of Riverina, particularly around Forbes. Northparkes mine does a great job, as does Lake Cowal mining operations. But we have seen a government which doesn't mind taking the benefits and talking about how they're getting the budget back into surplus when, at the same time, they are shutting down mining operations throughout regional Australia—shutting down the very industries which are helping to keep our balance of payments and export opportunities alive and well and helping make sure their budget stays in balance.

It is so incongruous when on one hand they're taking and, on the other hand, they are absolutely demonising the industries and therefore the workers in those industries, who are doing their very best and have done for many, many years to keep the nation's lights on. Shame on Labor for that. Shame on Labor for pretending to care about a future made in Australia, when exactly the opposite is the case.

Peter Khalil (Wills, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I say to the Chamber: we care. We care about a future made in Australia. I want to acknowledge the member for Bennelong for moving this motion for this very important topic. The Future Made in Australia plan is going to turbocharge our clean manufacturing, our industry and energy output and our capabilities. It's about time we did something like this, because we had 10 years of neglect on this matter and even before that: decisions like cutting support for auto manufacturing and then smoking cigars in celebration about it. How many of the industries that supported auto manufacturing have gone to the wall—all the small and medium sized engineering companies, all the innovation, all the skills outside of the factories themselves and the workers that worked in those factories? That's what the record of the previous coalition government was all about.

For them to come in here and criticise the Future Made in Australia plan is pretty rich. By supporting Australian businesses and fostering innovation, we're going to build that robust economy that ensures a prosperous future filled with job opportunities, creating jobs made right here in Australia. This will boost our economy, create jobs and deliver for our environment. All of these objectives are what we are aiming at to transition Australia towards net zero.

When we talk about renewables and the target of 82 per cent national renewable electricity generation by 2030, that's so critical. We're squarely focused on the path to clean-energy supply chains, where it's in our national interest to make things here and where we can be competitive. Supply chain resilience and security is absolutely critical in the current environment that we face, with geostrategic volatility and supply chain issues, which we saw during COVID. So this is also about economic security, national security and prosperity for Australians.

We've seen a 25 per cent increase in renewables in the national electricity market since we came to office. We know that global energy supply chains have been under enormous pressure in recent years. Global demand for batteries is set to quadruple by 2030 as we transition to net zero. The government knows that we can't rely on the status quo, which is why we have invested and continue to invest billions of dollars in solar, clean hydrogen and the National Battery Strategy and $1 billion to establish the Solar Sunshot to capture more of the global solar manufacturing supply chain with production credits and grants.

Australian research invented the modern solar panel, yet only one per cent of the panels on Australian roofs are made here. That's going to change. A Future Made in Australia is about creating jobs and increasing economic resilience and energy security in this space. On hydrogen, we're investing $6.7 billion over the decade for a new production tax incentive of $2 per kilogram starting from 2027-28 and $2 billion for a new round of the successful Hydrogen Headstart program. This investment's going to give industry the certainty and the confidence to advance projects here in Australia, accelerating the development of Australia's renewable hydrogen industry. It's going to give long-term certainty for the large-scale renewable hydrogen industry that's critical for future green iron and steel opportunities. We're expecting that it's going to create in regional and remote areas, which we heard the previous speaker going on about, 33,000 direct and indirect jobs and produce $28.9 billion per annum by 2040.

This is what Labor does. We provide jobs. We create jobs. We drive economic stability and innovation, and we work in partnership with scientists, with environmentalists, with engineers and with manufacturers. That's why Labor is the only party of government who can actually deliver, rather than grandstand, on this transition to net zero. We've got a National Battery Strategy, which is going to be set up and world leading, harnessing the world's leading expertise in battery technology, and we've got a STEM future. The Future Made in Australia plan is informed by our biggest, brightest minds in research. Unlike the coalition, Labor is going to nurture our research and development ecosystem, because STEM professionals are so important for the future.

Zaneta Mascarenhas (Swan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Hear! Hear!

Peter Khalil (Wills, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There's one scientist right here, an engineer! The coming decade poses challenges, but it also poses opportunities. It gives us opportunities when we see those challenges. We are committed to harnessing these opportunities through innovation, investment and a steadfast commitment to our future. We're going to continue to drive the Future Made in Australia agenda. We're going to drive that agenda hard because it ensures that our economy, environment and communities can thrive in the decades to come. Labor will lead Australia into a new era of prosperity and build a future every Australian can be a part of.

David Gillespie (Lyne, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

A future made in Australia—I admire the desire, but I think the policy won't achieve anything. In fact, it will exacerbate the problem which has caused Australian manufacturing to exit the country. Giving money away to approve more renewable energy projects of national significance is exactly what's happening already. The regulators in the state of Queensland have changed it so that any renewable project doesn't have to comply with any environmental law. Under state code 23, one just has to put in an application to the local council's CEO and—hey presto!—it doesn't even go to a council vote; it gets approved. New South Wales has an expedited process already. I'm not sure if the other states do, but, judging by the plans that have been approved that are out of Utopia, I suspect they have.

The Renewable Energy Agency has been around since the Rudd-Gillard-Rudd times. The time for us to be investing in renewable energy was when there were nascent technologies at the University of New South Wales. That boat sailed decades ago. If you'd said, 'There's a clever scientist over at UNSW who's got this thing; they're going to make direct current out of panels, and you just put them under the sun,' anyone with any insight would have realised it was great and invested early. Whereas the world is now awash with solar panels. The price of them has dropped 40 per cent because China is flooding the world with them. They've even undercut the Europeans. There are a few tokenistic small-scale producers left but—hey presto! It's a forlorn hope that we can get a new person or a new business with the aid of maybe a billion dollars of capital as a grant to compete in the marketplace.

When push comes to shove, price matters and people will buy the cheapest as long as the product is reasonably good. The Chinese have got the supply chains stitched up. Even though we mine more lithium than most other countries put together, it all goes to China. We want to keep a lot of our rare earth minerals here—sure! I think keeping and processing our raw minerals sounds like a really good idea. That's what we do well. But Tomago Aluminium, Portland Aluminium and Alcoa, which shut in the Hunter Valley years ago—why did they shut? Because the biggest input is not the bauxite and the alumina; it is electricity. That's why they shut up shop and left.

There's a story often quoted about all of the car making that left Australia. I was really sad when it left, but if you look at the records, Chrysler Valiant left in the eighties followed by Leyland and BMC. Ford announced their closure in May 2013 before the coalition was even elected.

A government member: You told them you were ending the subsidies!

No; that was Labor—

A government member: That was Sophie Mirabella. That's why she lost her seat.

Excuse me, Madame Deputy Chair, the good member over there is confused. It was Tony Abbott who told Toyota we wouldn't give them any more subsidies. That was the only one. It was one company. All the others made their decision years ago. As it turns out, Ford made their announcement in 2013, but we convinced them that they were competitive and to stay, and they decided to keep their design team. Many members would not know that the Ford design team based in Melbourne designs four wheel drives for Ford around the world. Even the big monster trucks and Ford Rangers are designed in Australia, but they're built in Vietnam, Thailand or elsewhere.

We all want manufacturing in this country. The best thing we can do is get cheap base-load electricity. I have 1,200 people at Tomago who can see the writing on the wall: when their current energy contract ends, Tomago will close. It's pie in the sky to think that 24-hour electricity that is required to run that smelter will be produced regularly enough and at sufficient volumes if we keep closing our power stations. We have to keep it there. More renewables is not the solution. They will have a part in our grid but, if we're going to get out of coal— (Time expired)

Zaneta Mascarenhas (Swan, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

'A future made in Australia'—this is more than a headline. This is something that is in the blood of this government, and we're working every day to achieve that. I commend the member for Bennelong for bringing this wonderful motion to the House. I strongly support this motion because I believe in a future made in Australia.

The global economy is changing, and we need to secure Australia's place in it. We need to act urgently so that Australia is not left behind. Labor has embraced the challenge, unlike the previous government—years of inaction, neglect and wasted opportunities. And let's face it: the pathway to net zero emissions goes right through WA. Under the Liberals, manufacturing ground to a halt. It's astonishing that Australia procures 68 per cent of what we use. This has put Australia in last place in the OECD. 'Self-sufficiency' was not in the vocabulary of the Liberal Party. In two years, Labor has made enormous progress to put measures in place to turn this around.

Labor's focus is on securing a future for Australia. The Liberals had no focus. I expect the opposition will oppose this motion because that's all that they know how to do. There is a policy vacuum on that side of the House. They say no to anything; they say no to everything. They say no to creating a better future for Australia, and they say no to creating a future made in Australia, because they've got nothing else to offer. Instead Labor has supercharged investment in renewable hydrogen. There is $6.7 billion over a decade for new production tax incentives and $2 billion in the new round of the successful Hydrogen Headstart program. We're expanding funding for the Critical Minerals Facility to $6 billion, and we're establishing a $1.7 billion Future Made in Australia innovation fund. We've established Solar Sunshot to capture more of the global solar manufacturing supply chain, with more production credits worth about $1 billion. That is not just an example; this is something that the Labor government is doing to supercharge our clean energy future and increase the capacity of our country.

The member for Bennelong includes in his motion a commendation for further actions this government is taking to secure Australia's future. There's one that I'm super thrilled about. I'm passionate about STEM: science, technology, engineering and maths. I'm passionate about STEM because investment in STEM will build a future made in Australia. I'm also passionate about more diversity in STEM. We need more women to make STEM more representative in this country. Diversity is a strength. This is something that we learn in ecology and biology, but it applies to the parliament and also to our workforces. Diversity will mean better outcomes for all Australians. New methods of research, new explanations, new ideas and new perspectives will help us find different pathways to solving complex problems. I think this is really exciting, and we need to see that the diversity that we've seen in the 47th Parliament happen in our workplaces where we have STEM professionals. I applaud the government for investing $38.2 million over eight years for diversity in STEM programs. This funding will mean existing STEM programs that focus on women and science engagement will receive additional funding. This is what we need to do to reach more diverse cohorts and encourage them into STEM careers and to stay in those careers.

It's also interesting to see what we're doing in the renewable technology space. As we said, the global economy is changing and we can either be left behind or we can be a part of it. There is an advantage in making sure we are not the laggards, and we need to make sure we do this so we can actually make progress, make financial contributions and have financial success with our investment in renewable energy and our pathway to net zero emissions. It's something that will result in better investment in Australia, but it's something that Western Australia will particularly benefit from. I think we all agree that we need to see action on climate change, but we also need to see the sophistication of the Australian economy increase, and that's what the Future Made in Australia will do. I commend this motion to the House.

Aaron Violi (Casey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's wonderful to rise and speak on this motion, although I was a little bit perplexed when I read through it. I made sure I read the motion about the government's Future Made in Australia in great detail. I thought: 'Surely, they would want to talk about the $466.4 million that they spent on their National Quantum Strategy? That's a big part of their Future Made in Australia, but it's not mentioned.' Those opposite don't want to talk about their Quantum Strategy as part of the Future Made in Australia. There are a few reasons why they don't want to talk about PsiQuantum and they don't want to talk about their Quantum Strategy under the Future Made in Australia banner.

The first reason they don't want to talk about it is because it's not made in Australia; it's a Silicon Valley company. This government is giving $466.4 million to a US tech company based in Silicon Valley under the Future Made in Australia banner. But it gets worse. There are serious question marks over the EOI process that was undertaken to come to this grant. In November last year I stood in this chamber and raised concerns, which were raised with me by the quantum sector, about the process. They were concerned that the EOI process was reverse-engineered to support PsiQuantum. They were concerned because they'd seen an email from PsiQuantum to potential investors talking about their agreement with the Australian government in April and May 2023. I raised this concern in November 2023. Lo and behold, on 30 April 2024 the government announced their $466.4 million for this US-based company. What a coincidence!

And let's look at the timeline. December 2022, the federal Minister for Industry and Science, Ed Husic, met with PsiQuantum. On 25 January 2023, Minister Husic travelled to the US to visit PsiQuantum. Conveniently, on 26 April 2023, PsiQuantum miraculously registered in Australia—based in Brisbane. What a coincidence. On 3 May, Minister Husic releases his National Quantum Strategy. From 1 to 31 August, a quantum computing EOI was issued by the federal government. This was all happening in May and August last year, when this email was floating around. I then raised it in this House in November last year, and, lo and behold, on 30 April 2024 the government miraculously announced this money for PsiQuantum.

But it gets better. Last year Brookline Advisory started working as a lobbyist for PsiQuantum. Who are two of the key lobbyists who work for Brookline Advisory? Would you believe, Member for Herbert, that they're former staffers for the Treasurer and the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia? They were appointed on 12 May last year. So it is no wonder that those opposite don't want to put any mention of this Quantum Strategy in this motion, because they know this process doesn't stack up. Senate estimates last week showed that the contracts have not been signed. It is still going through the department because it doesn't stack up. What this government did was choose to pick a winner. They put it all on black, put it all on one US based technology company. What they should have done is follow the UK model and undertake an testbed strategy. A testbed strategy in quantum allows you to invest in multiple technologies. Because let's be clear, there is no proven quantum technology; all of these are options they are working through. We don't know whether PsiQuantum will work or not. There are other quantum companies working on different technologies.

The smart decision when you invest is to diversify. But no, this government and this minister in his wisdom chose one US company to spend $466.4 million of Australia taxpayer money on. He abandoned the quantum industry in Australia, left them with nothing. That is why governments should not be picking winners, because they conveniently support companies that their former staffers work for. This is just one example of why this Future Made in Australia strategy is going to continue to fail and cost taxpayer money. (time expired)

Terry Young (Longman, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There being no further speakers, this debate is adjourned and will be made in order of the day for the next day of sitting.