Dean Smith (WA, Liberal Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Competition, Charities and Treasury) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to speak on the Future Made in Australia Bill 2024 and the Future Made in Australia (Omnibus Amendments No. 1) Bill 2024. As my coalition colleagues have made clear, we're opposing these bills, and we encourage all those in the chamber to do the same. I say that because these are bills that will not or rather cannot deliver for Australians and Australian business. These are two of those pieces of proposed legislation that sound worse and worse the more we learn about them.

We in the coalition are rightly proud of the national manufacturing sector. The coalition has championed it for decades and continues to do so. Unfortunately, when you look beneath the spin and slogans, this legislation provides no such support. That is because manufacturing requires far more than superficiality. It begins with sound economic management, which includes less regulation, more flexible workplaces, affordable and reliable energy and an incentive based tax system. Instead, these bills take a page straight out of the Labor Party economic playbook, and its priorities are, as usual, all wrong. It's empty words instead of substance; bigger government instead of business investment; pork-barrelling instead of a strong economy; and, worst of all, greater inflation at precisely the time when Labor should be doing everything in its power to tackle it, leaving Australian business and households to deal with the financial consequences.

It has already been said in this chamber, but it deserves to be said again: the Future Made in Australia legislation is not about securing our future; it is about securing Labor's political interests. It is handing out taxpayer money to favoured sectors without the transparency that Australians rightly expect.

This legislation opens the way for the Albanese government to funnel public funds through Export Finance Australia and ARENA, transforming them into political weapons instead of drivers of economic progress. Let's explore the changes to ARENA, for example. Established as a research and development agency, Labor previously opposed expanding ARENA's scope to include reasonable, net zero related R&D expenditure that included carbon capture and storage and blue hydrogen. Labor has since changed its tune. This legislation now expands ARENA's remit to include deployment, manufacturing and commercialisation, all of which are very removed from ARENA's original purpose.

The reality is that this is nothing more than a plaything for the minister for climate change, the Hon. Chris Bowen, who will have the power to roll out billions of dollars without parliamentary oversight. Indeed, it gives the climate change minister the power to increase ARENA's funding, free from scrutiny, with up to $3.9 billion able to be spent with a single stroke of Minister Bowen's pen.

These bills also task the Treasurer and the Treasury with deciding whether a sector of the Australian economy deserves investment or not. They will consider the investment against a very narrow set of criteria. We heard in evidence during Senate estimates that key investments for Australia's energy future and sovereign capability, from carbon capture and storage to gas and nuclear, will not be eligible. On one level, it's hard to take it seriously, especially given that it's overseen by Dr Jim Chalmers, a Treasurer who has never worked in business and has made it abundantly clear he does not understand it. But we must take it seriously because its implications for Australia's economic future and the wellbeing of Australians are significant.

The bill's community benefit principles are also a major concern, given the bill will entrench union involvement in the workplace and replicate many of the same social procurement policies that have enabled the CFMEU's conduct across Australia. It's no surprise that the Business Council of Australia has warned that this procurement policy risks encouraging unacceptable behaviour and backs businesses that will never be able to operate competitively. It's also worth noting that Labor's own investments thus far don't meet the standards established by the legislation. Examples of this include the billion dollars for solar panel manufacturers that the Productivity Commission doesn't believe are viable; the half a billion dollars for an American quantum computing company, which bypassed the national interest framework and other sector assessments; and the Solar Sunshot program, which the Treasury secretary refuses to back. Fortescue is also scaling back its green hydrogen plans despite the promise of tax credits for just existing.

This is not an enviable track record, and, like the bills, it does not come from a good place, or a well-informed one. It explains the views of the productivity commissioner, Danielle Wood, who has warned of the cost to the taxpayer. She has said:

"If we are supporting industries that don't have a long-term competitive advantage, that can be an ongoing cost. It diverts resources … "

She went on to say:

"We risk creating a class of business that is reliant on government subsidies … "

One of Ms Wood's predecessors, Gary Banks, has gone further in describing the policy as 'a fool's errand' that risks propping up 'political favourites'.

It's worth considering why Australian manufacturing and industry are in their current position, a position characterised by dilemma. Labor's energy, industrial relations and taxation policies make Australia a less and less attractive place for business investment every day. About 19,000 businesses have gone under since Labor took office, which is the highest number on record.

The news today, of course, speaks of more small businesses collapsing. Productivity is down, and businesses are struggling just to keep their doors open and staff employed, let alone to flourish and grow. In addition to failing to mitigate these problems, this bill makes a bad situation worse by fuelling inflation rather than tackling it. It's well and truly on the record that the RBA governor, Michele Bullock, has termed inflation in Australia 'homegrown' and 'sticky'. And it's taking its toll. Prices have risen by 10 per cent, and for working households the cost of living has jumped by nearly 20 per cent. Taxes are up, and real wages are down, as are household savings, which have fallen 10 per cent. A household with a $750,000 mortgage is now $35,000 worse off. There have been 13 interest rate rises under Labor as the RBA is forced to do the government's heavy lifting rather than the government doing its own heavy lifting. Since taking office, Albanese government has pushed ahead with $315 billion in new spending, seemingly blind to its effects on Australian households and, soon, the whole economy. This is not the sound economic management Australians and our manufacturing sector expect and deserve.

That is where the coalition comes in with a clear, back-to-basics economic plan to get the national economy on track. We will cut inflationary spending, prioritising reasonable spending that will deliver real benefits to households and businesses. We will cut Labor's tangle of red tape, removing the regulatory roadblocks that are blocking innovation and entrepreneurialism. We will make it easier for business to grow and create jobs. We will deliver a fairer, lower and simpler tax system so people can keep more of what they earn. We will ensure access to cheaper and more reliable energy. That's how you build a strong and resilient economy. That's how you boost productivity, tackle inflation and genuinely meet the needs of Australians. You don't do it with slogans. You don't do it with handouts guided by political priorities. That is what these bills do and it's why Future Made in Australia is not the answer to Australia's economic challenges.