Anthony Chisholm (Queensland, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Education) Share this | Hansard source

The COVID pandemic highlighted Australia's vulnerability at the end of global supply chains and put on display the consequences of a decade of coalition government neglect for Australian manufacturing. This neglect was one of the key things people in Queensland and across Australia raised with me throughout the last couple of years. Australians want to be a country that makes things. In a resource-rich country, Australians want us to be making more things onshore. They want Australian-made ideas and products to be recognised and sought after all over the world. They want Australia to see the economic benefit that comes with supporting our manufacturing sector.

That's why Australians turfed out the decade-old coalition government and voted for an Albanese government that was committed to rebuilding our manufacturing sector, starting with the establishment of the National Reconstruction Fund, a significant investment in manufacturing capability in our country. My home state of Queensland has always played a significant role in manufacturing capacity on the back of the resources industry, and this creates good, secure jobs in many parts of the state. The National Reconstruction Fund will see more investment in projects in regional Queensland across areas like critical minerals, transport, agriculture and renewables.

It is so disappointing that this opposition have sought to oppose this important legislation. Incapable of vision, incapable of nation building, they have learnt nothing from the last election result. But the Albanese government is committing to a future made in Australia, and we are committed to delivering it, because we know the jobs and economic benefits that come from investment in manufacturing. It is an Albanese Labor government that will deliver.