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

Lets cast our minds back to the COVID-19 pandemic. International supply chains were collapsing. Our sovereignty and national security were placed under incredible pressure as countries around the world were competing for masks and vaccines. Australia's former chief economist David Wood said in 2022 that disruptions to global supply chains and transport networks were driving costs higher and prolonging the global imbalance between constrained supply and a growing demand for goods. In an inquiry into the effects of COVID-19 on Australia's foreign affairs, defence and trade, we heard from Dr Jeffrey Wilson, from the Perth USAsia Centre. He said that, given the complexity of global value chains, Australia has faced many unexpected importation supply shocks in the last three months alone, including manufacturers struggling to secure packaging materials from China and South-East Asia. That's why this government wants to safeguard us against the next global shock and use our competitive advantages to create good jobs in the regions.

Our regional and remote communities are at the forefront of the economic shift that will come from the global race towards net zero. Five coal power stations are likely to close before 2030, and Australia's remaining coal power stations are likely to close by 2040. Communities in Lithgow, Collie, Biloela and the Latrobe Valley need us to act now to create jobs that go back into the regions, not leave them to the wolves like the former government did with the closure of the Hazelwood Power Station. Unlike the former government, we're embarking on an agenda to build a future made in Australia, supporting workers to access employment, skills and the opportunities for our next generation of prosperity. The Future Made in Australia Bill 2024 and the related bill will enable the government to provide tax production credits to industries such as renewable hydrogen, green metals and low-carbon liquid fuels.

Independent modelling commissioned by the Department of Industry, Science and Resources and undertaken by the PwC found that increasing the export of critical minerals and energy transition minerals could create more than 115,000 new jobs by 2040. The report also estimates that the number of jobs could increase by 262,000 if Australia builds onshore capability in refining and processing. Industries like critical minerals already provide thousands of good jobs in our regions, but our future made in Australia agenda will supercharge that in the coming years. For example, in April 2024 the Commonwealth and South Australian governments jointly announced $185 million for the graphite project in South Australia. Of course, the LNP's opposed to that. They're opposed to a future made in Australia. They're opposed to real jobs in South Australia on a jointly announced project. Stage 1 will deliver around 150 construction jobs, and 125 jobs once operational, in Arno Bay on the Eyre Peninsula. Stage 2 will deliver a further 225 construction jobs, and more than 120 jobs once it's operational, in Bolivar, near Port Adelaide.

Also in April 2024 the Commonwealth and Queensland governments jointly announced $400 million in new loans for Australia's first high-purity alumina processing facility in Gladstone. That processing plant, the Gladstone project, is expected to create around 490 jobs during construction and more than 200 jobs on completion. An article in the Australian on 3 July 2024 reported that the Gladstone project would use a new process to turn mined aluminium into high-purity alumina, which can be used in semiconductors, lithium-ion batteries and LED lighting. The article estimates that this process will increase the value by 10,000 per cent, from 35c a kilo to $35 a kilo. That's the kind of onshore value creation that will attract capital investment and rebuild our manufacturing sector. Of course, the Liberal and National parties are against these sorts of initiatives. The Liberal and National parties are against these jobs in regional Australia.

The Future Made in Australia agenda is about productivity as well and backing innovative technology as a driver of productivity. Amendments put forward by the government to this bill require decision-makers to consult with the Productivity Commission before an investment can be made. This has been welcomed by the Productivity Commissioner, Danielle Wood. This bill and the overall $22.7 billion funding package show that our government are putting our money where our mouth is.

It is not just we who are moving. Countries around the world are making huge investments in critical minerals and renewables and tying that to fair labour standards. The United States has invested $551 billion in Australian dollars as part of their Inflation Reduction Act. The European Union has invested $509 billion through its green deal. Canada has invested $102 billion through to 2035 through its clean energy tax credits. To claim these tax credits, Canadian employers must meet labour standards, including prevailing wages, and apprenticeship requirements. That's a good thing.

But the opposition leader, Mr Dutton, thinks he has more foresight than our closest allies. In their dissenting report, the coalition said that:

'Future Made in Australia' represents a risky and potentially wasteful expenditure of tax-payers' money …

Recently, the shadow Treasurer, Mr Taylor, vowed that, if they win the election, the coalition will salt the earth on our plan for manufacturing and tax production credits. He said on ABC's RN Breakfast in August that our agenda to rebuild manufacturing was nothing more than a corporate welfare initiative. He said on Insiders in May that there's 'no case for subsidies' for critical minerals. That's because they don't want Australians to make things here. They made that clear when they chased the car industry out of the country. We have taken a different approach. This government is investing in a future made in Australia and the workers who will make it happen right across this country and right across our regions.

It's here in black and white. On a practical level, this bill is built on three pillars. The first is a national interest framework which will help us identify sectors where we have a sustained comparative advantage in the new net zero economy or an economic resilience and security imperatives to invest. Dr Rod Sims, former chairperson of the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, has backed the national interest framework, saying that it will put 'a lot of discipline around the Future Made in Australia policy so it doesn't go off the rails'. Secondly, there's a robust sector assessment process to help us better understand and break down barriers to private investment in key areas of the economy. This bill embeds into the law strict criteria and robust processes that will guide decision-making by Export Finance Australia and the Australian Renewable Energy Agency. Thirdly, there's a set of community benefits principles that will help ensure that public investment and the private investment it generates is channelled to promote safe and secure jobs that are well paid and have good conditions.

Working people across Australia have welcomed this bill. Steve Murphy of the Australian Manufacturing Workers Union told the inquiry into the bill that we are:

… well positioned with renewable energy, as well as shifting to green metals and new industries, to supply to our region and trading partners decarbonised steel, decarbonised metals and decarbonised products that they can use in their supply chains.

Thomas Mortimer from the Australian Workers Union told the inquiry that:

… investing in lower-emissions production now can see Australia leverage a suite of comparative advantages in resources, low-cost renewables, and existing infrastructure and supply chains to build world-leading capabilities.

Michele O'Neil from the Australian Council of Trade Unions said:

Future Made in Australia is our chance to seize our own natural advantages and realise our own renewable superpower—

She said that we need to ensure:

… that these industries deliver well-paid, safe and secure jobs for the workers that drive them and material benefits for the communities that host them, be they those regions that have powered our country for so long or First Nations communities.

The business community also backs this plan. In an article in the Financial Review on 26 June this year, the Business Council CEO Bran Black said:

… we need a Future Made in Australia to work, and to work well. We cannot sit still while other nations are acting.

The Australian Chamber of Commerce and Industry offered their support for the objective of achieving sovereign manufacturing capability and maximising Australia's comparative advantage in decarbonisation as part of a future made in Australia. The Chamber of Minerals and Energy Western Australia said that our agenda would 'strategically unlock private investment at the scale in the national interest'.

Lastly, in May this year, 77 economists signed an open letter supporting the Future Made in Australia policy. The letter said:

Using the full suite of policy levers available to government, a Future Made in Australia strategy could rebuild a strong, sustainable manufacturing sector, with spill-over benefits that spread throughout the economy and society. We strongly support this important shift in emphasis and vision. We firmly believe that sustainable manufacturing must play a vital and strategic role in Australia's economy.

The world is changing, but those opposite don't change. They're opposed to every group in the Australian community that wants to turn around and make sure that we have a future made in Australia. This is crass politics. This is a low-life attempt to turn around and make sure that we don't have the opportunity to rebuild a manufacturing base that gives good jobs in our communities, that's supported by our regional communities, that's supported by business and that's supported by those in industry that have real experience in making sure that jobs are created, because those opposite really hate the idea of government, business and the workplace through their unions coming together to start building a better Australia. Whenever those opposite hear that happening, a red flag goes up, because they want to have a constant battle, to complain about people not wanting to get along. What they do is oppose every opportunity for the community to get along, to get policies to change in this country, to get policies that build a future made in Australia, because they can't help themselves. They just don't like it when people get along and get along to build this country.

Those opposite want division. They want opposition. They want to say no to every good policy that this country, when it comes together, builds up and puts forward. This bill is worth voting for, and I dare those opposite to back Australia.