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

I think Senator Bragg was trying to angle to get a few of his crypto bros on the board of this new entity, maybe! But often when I hear Senator Bragg's contribution, I wonder whether we actually do live on the same planet, because Senator Bragg obviously hasn't met any of the Australians who were concerned about what went on over the past couple of years, during the pandemic, which highlighted our lack of sovereign capability. I certainly heard that a lot when I was out and about around Queensland. I know the Prime Minister did, too, which is why he put forward this proposal for a national reconstruction fund when we were in opposition—because he knew we needed to learn those lessons from what went on during COVID and our lack of sovereign capability and he wanted, if we were lucky enough to form government, to do something about it. And that's exactly what we are proposing to do. It was something we campaigned on strongly in opposition. I think that was well received. And it's something we really want to deliver on in government and get on with, because we understand that the Australian people want to support and see more manufacturing in this country, and that's exactly what the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation Bill 2023 is about.

Think about what was highlighted during COVID: the lack of PPE and the impact that had on aged care and health and the fact that we couldn't produce enough of our own to supply people; how we were at the back of the queue for the vaccines because we didn't have our own manufacturing capability. There were so many examples over the past couple of years showing the damage from the neglect of the last 10 years of the previous government. Manufacturing in this country had suffered. It's something that, as a government, proudly, we want to correct. We want to fix it, we want to create those opportunities, and we think this bill is a great opportunity to do that and to really start turning the corner and providing those opportunities for the Australian people.

Under the previous government, tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs were lost in Australia, causing manufacturing to account for a smaller share of national employment than in any other OECD country. That's how much manufacturing declined in Australia over the last decade. It saw Australia hit the lowest levels of manufacturing self-sufficiency of any OECD country. As I said, in opposition we made a commitment to rebuilding Australian manufacturing and ensuring we become a country that makes things again. That's what Australians voted for and that's what we are delivering with this bill today.

The National Reconstruction Fund represents one of the biggest investments in our manufacturing capacity ever. The fund will be modelled on the successful Clean Energy Finance Corporation, a body set up by a previous Labor government—once again, opposed by the coalition—which has been an outstanding success. That's why we've modelled the National Reconstruction Fund on the CEFC—because it is a proven vehicle that has worked for more 10 years. It's unlocked $2.60 in private sector investment for every dollar it invests. So it actually produces a return, which I think is smart economics and smart government policy. The reconstruction fund will be governed by an independent board and will be empowered to co-invest in projects through loans, guarantees, and equity, partnering with institutional investors, private equity and venture capital. It will invest in strategic priority areas, like: value adding in resources, renewables, and low-emissions technology; transport: agriculture; forestry; fisheries; and a wide range of other industries. Importantly, it will help to grow a more resilient and diversified economy that will create more jobs—and I think it will particularly create more jobs in regional Australia.

There are over 90,000 manufacturing firms in Australia, and one-third of those are in regional areas. My home state of Queensland has more regional based manufacturing firms than any other state in the country. Our agriculture industry is turning sugarcane waste into biofuels in Burdekin. We have impressive projects and companies like Tritium are exporting high-tech EV chargers around the world. In Gladstone we're seeing the development of new hydrogen facilities, as well as companies like Rio Tinto, which has significant operations in Gladstone, considering proposals to build four gigawatts worth of solar and wind capacity to power manufacturing in the region in the future. In manufacturing we've seen the success the state government has had by building trains in Maryborough. That has revitalised the town. We also saw this week a deal announced to manufacture in Ipswich the Boxer combat vehicles that will be exported to Germany as well.

Importantly, our resources sector powers Australia. With new opportunities in renewables and critical minerals, regional Queensland can continue to be the powerhouse of our economy. The National Reconstruction Fund is going to open up even more opportunities for regional Queensland, and the government will be driving those. Unfortunately, the Queensland Liberals and Nationals on the opposition benches are voting against these opportunities. But it's not always because they think this is a bad idea. Just look at what Colin Boyce, the member for Flynn, told 4RO radio in Central Queensland last week. When asked if he could see the benefits of the National Reconstruction Fund for regional Queensland he said, 'Absolutely.' He also said that, if money in this fund were directed towards agriculture, he would certainly welcome it. I don't know if the member for Flynn has had a look at this policy, which Labor announced before the election. If he had, he would have seen that the National Reconstruction Fund will absolutely be directing funds towards agriculture. In fact, we've reserved $500 million for funding of the agriculture sector and opportunities there.

They can see the benefits for regional Queensland and they welcome the funding in sectors that we are supporting, but still the member for Flynn, along with the member for Capricornia and the member for Hinkler, stood in the other chamber and voted against this legislation. They voted against a $15 billion fund that will support more regional Queensland businesses and they voted against secure, local and decent jobs for workers across communities in regional Queensland. They are too busy playing politics and voted against the interests of their own communities.

There is no doubt that Australians want to see a future made in Australia. That's why they voted for an Albanese Labor government, and that's exactly what we will be delivering on with the passage of this bill.