Tony Sheldon (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation Bill 2023, and here we go about making a difference. I start by commending the Minister for Industry and Science for his hard work on bringing this critical and ambitious policy to life. The National Reconstruction Fund is a $15 billion financing vehicle which will be one of the largest investments in domestic manufacturing in our history. The NRF will make targeted investments through a mix of loans, equity and guarantees in seven priority areas: renewable low-emission technologies, medical science, transport—given the former coalition government's debacle in New South Wales, with foreign-made trams, trains and ferries, we certainly welcome that—agriculture, forestry and fisheries; value-add in resources and defence capability; and enable capabilities across engineering, data science and software development, including in AI, robotics and quantum.

You know, we used to make things in this country, and thanks to the NRF and thanks to the massive overhaul of our skills and training system through the Jobs and Skills Australia Amendment Bill introduced in the House last week, we can and will make things right here in Australia again. When we invest in making things in Australia, we make every dollar back 10 times over. We make it back by creating highly skilled, secure and well-paid jobs for working Australians. We make it back by creating economic and job opportunities in our regions. We make it back by securing our national sovereignty. If the pandemic weren't a wake-up call that we need to make essential goods here in Australia and not depend on the benevolence of China based manufacturers, then I'm not sure we'll ever get through to those opposite.

The NRF has the support of the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry and Australian Industry Group. In fact, to quote the Senate Economics Committee report on the bill:

All submissions to the inquiry and witnesses at the public hearing were supportive of the bill and the objectives of increasing manufacturing in Australia.

So why, when there was unanimous support from every single organisation that participated in the Senate review process, are the Liberals and Nationals opposing it? Why are the Liberals opposed to a $15 billion investment in reviving Australian manufacturing? Why are the Nationals opposed to this bill when agriculture is one of the priority areas for investment? Perhaps it's because they are the very same people who decimated manufacturing in this country. Perhaps it's because they are ideologically opposed to making things in Australia. Perhaps it's because they prefer that we offshore our blue-collar jobs to China.

Why don't the Liberals and Nationals ask their colleagues in New South Wales how offshoring manufacturing has gone? If you haven't been paying attention, I'll tell you. In New South Wales they said, 'We're not good at building trains.' So, instead, they bought trains made in Spain, which, it turns out, had major cracks in the wheel arches that caused the Inner West Line to shut down for 18 months. They bought inter-city trains made in South Korea, which were delivered four years ago with a raft of safety issues and are only now starting to enter service. They bought river-class ferries made in Indonesia, which can't fit under bridges on the Paramatta River if passengers are sitting on the top deck. If you're sitting on the top deck of one of these boats you'll be decapitated when it goes under the Gasworks Bridge.

The safety issues, repairs and delays on these projects have cost Australia billions of dollars. So why do they insist on offshoring manufacturing? Well, when the Liberals and the Nationals hear the phrase 'made in Australia', they start panicking about organised labour. They start worrying about workers in a factory or a warehouse organising together to have a united voice on wages and conditions. There is nothing that those opposite hate more than workers with a voice. That's why the Abbott government told our car manufacturing industry to leave. That's why the Abbott government said they wouldn't trust Australia to build a canoe. That's why the Liberals and Nationals are opposing this bill today.

I'm sure there are members and senators in the coalition who are embarrassed but are forced to show up in this place and vote against this bill. They don't want to be on the wrong side of history on this vote, just as they don't want to go along with opposition leader Dutton's ideological opposition to the safeguard mechanisms and just as they don't want to go along with Dutton's opposition to our energy price relief bill. But unfortunately that is how history will record your vote on this issue. Your record will forever be stained by a vote against bringing manufacturing back to this country.

So, to every Australian in the Hunter and Illawarra, in Central Queensland, in Geelong and in South Australia: pay attention to this vote, because the distinction couldn't be clearer. The Albanese government is voting for legislation to revive Australian manufacturing, and the Liberals and Nationals are voting against it.