Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I just want to take a couple of minutes to support and thank Senator Roberts for bringing this to my attention. I hadn't heard of Project Iron Boomerang, but I sat down and got a briefing from Senator Roberts. It comes back to when I was a kid growing up. I remember in the great state of New South Wales we used to do all of this sort of stuff. We actually used to make our own steel. We used to have proud steel cities, where there were communities, there were bonds and there were families, before all this 'fly-in, fly-out' nonsense took over. It was before the farm was sold—if I can use the terminology of a farm. It breaks my heart to think, as I'm watching my grandchildren grow up, how disgusted they should be with the politicians before us who thought it was a good idea to contract out work we used to do and we did well. I hear conversations like those I've picked up in Senate inquiries on the Inland Rail, where there are concerns about cheaper steel coming from China, nowhere near the Australian standard. Regardless of who's in government, I always have a fear: Who are the ones who are supposed to be out there monitoring this stuff? Are they doing their job properly? That's not a blue-versus-red conversation or blue-versus-red argument. I nearly said blue-versus-blue, but you know what I mean.

So I want to support this. I know the Labor Party and Prime Minister Albanese—the Albanese government—support you, Senator Roberts, for bringing this to us. I think it's a magnificent thing, and I also think this is what we should be doing. These are the big-ticket items that, when I first came into the Senate, lo and behold, I thought we would be discussing on a daily basis. How tricked I got! But, anyway, at least let's get back to the big stuff about building a better nation, as I said in my first speech, and leaving it better than how we found it.

I want to share a quick comment with the Senate. I was in China. I met with Madam Fu Ying. Some may think, 'Who's Madam Fu Ying?' Madam Fu Ying is very highly regarded in the CCP. She was China's Ambassador to Australia during the Howard regime. I was joined by Senators Gallagher and Dastyari when Madam Fu Ying made it very clear to us how wonderful it is: 'Thank you, Australia, for sending us your coal. Thank you, Australia, for sending us your iron ore, because we turn it into steel, and we make a heck of a lot more money selling it back to you, and we appreciate that.'

I want to support this, and we will support this, Senator Roberts. I understand the opposition are, hopefully, getting behind this too, because this is the stuff we need to do. The beauty of speaking after Senator Roberts is you've heard the whole guts and crux of the matter. I can't pick an argument there. There's not a downside that I've seen. The beauty of it is that I know my committee—the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee—has been predicated for all of the years I've been here to put aside all the political bulldust, to actually dig deep, go wide, go varied and listen to everyone who has got a thought and to actually try and deliver in the best interests of our nation.

Senator Roberts, I tip my hat to you. I look forward to joining you on the tour. Let's try and put these two great industries together: iron ore in my state of WA and coal in your state of Queensland. It just makes too much sense. I'm starting to get a headache because it's sounding too easy.