Raff Ciccone (Victoria, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We know that workers all over Australia are doing it tough right now. Tonight I'd like to speak in particular about the circumstances confronting around 150 workers in Portland, whose jobs are teetering on the brink in my home state of Victoria.

We often hear a lot in this place, and in places like it all throughout the country, of the great virtues of renewable energy. Wherever you might stand on the question of Australia's future energy mix, should it be coal or gas, solar or—dare I even suggest it—nuclear, it is not my intention to debate that topic tonight. But I would hope that those on both sides of this chamber would agree, regardless of what method of electricity generation we are talking about, that the importance of ensuring there are opportunities for Australian workers in this industry is paramount.

As we speak, workers at Keppel Prince in Portland in my home state of Victoria are facing a terribly uncertain future. For those unfamiliar with it, Keppel Prince is Victoria's only manufacturer of towers for wind turbines. Down at the plant, they use Australian steel from BlueScope to build towers upon which a wind turbine sits. One might think, given their line of work, that it would be boom times for a company like Keppel Prince. Alas, it is not. Whilst many may celebrate the seemingly endless fields of wind farms being built across Victoria and Australia, I'm afraid to say that very few consider where these turbines are actually made. The truth of the matter is that often Australian wind turbines are hardly Australian at all, with the tower, the blades and the steel within them coming from overseas. It is the port in Portland where many of these items land, carted off the foreign ships that haul them here. These items are almost ceremoniously paraded through the town on their way to the wind farm they are destined for. Workers at Keppel Prince—Australian workers—make a fine product from Australian materials and they have to suffer the injustice and humiliation of seeing the trucks roll through their town, loaded to the brim with the very same product that they are making at their factory just a few minutes down the street.

This situation is simply not good enough, and it's something that is entirely within the purview of this government to fix. Many of these turbines are being constructed at a brand-new $360 million wind farm of which over half of the electricity to be generated will go to the government's own Snowy Hydro scheme. As the wind farm's single largest customer, it is entirely within the capacity of the government to mandate the use of Australian made materials in the build. Yet the government has done absolutely nothing about it. Whilst Australian producers of all types languish, locked out of the Chinese market, in Australia the government continues to roll out the red carpet to discount steel made by overseas workers on lower wages and with substandard conditions. Ultimately those who will pay the price are the 150 workers at Keppel Prince whose jobs are at risk tonight. I can also tell the Senate tonight that 12 workers have lost their jobs this evening and that a further 26 will be made redundant this coming Thursday. It's not just them. It's the scores of other Australian workers who find themselves in this situation all over the country. This isn't good enough and it needs to stop. That's why I'm standing on the side of these workers and their representatives at the AWU and the AMWU, and it is why I'm calling on this government to mandate the use of local materials in projects such as these. Putting Australian workers first is surely the very least that they can do?

Just on another subject matter this evening, I want to briefly acknowledge quite a few people who attended the inaugural meeting of the Parliamentary Friends of Landcare. Senator Perin Davey and I are honoured to be the co-chairs of this parliamentary friendship group and to have hosted here this evening outside in the gardens of Parliament House. I want to acknowledge Uncle Wally Bell, a traditional custodian of the Ngunawal lands on which we meet. He is also a great member, a fond member, of ACT Landcare. I must say it was a very touching welcome to country by Uncle Wally. I really want to acknowledge him formally in the chamber this evening and to thank him very much for his contribution at tonight's event.

We also had in attendance Minister Littleproud and Minister Ley, as well as shadow ministers Ms Collins and Ms Butler, along with the Chair of the National Landcare Network, Patrick O'Connor, and the CEO, Jim Adams, as well as the chair of Landcare Australia, Doug Humann AM, and CEO Shane Norrish. There were many members of boards of many Landcare networks and groups that attended this evening, mainly from the ACT but also from New South Wales and Victoria. I really wanted to say thank you to the Landcare networkers that came from Victoria to enjoy the event and to get to know the other networkers in the friendship group. I'm sure there will be many, many more events to come.

Landcare in Australia is a very proud legacy of Bob Hawke, who established it with the purpose of bringing environmentalists and landholders together to improve biodiversity, build resilience in Australia's food and farming systems and create stronger regional communities. As a senator for Victoria, I also want to acknowledge the important place that my home state has in the Landcare story, with Landcare first evolving in Victoria through an initiative of a former premier, the late Joan Kirner, who was then Minister for Conservation, Forests and Lands, and Heather Mitchell AM, the first female president of the Victorian Farmers Federation. I also want to acknowledge Tony Mahar from the National Farmers Federation, who was in attendance tonight. I know that he and the NFF are great supporters of Landcare.

In fact, before the Hawke Labor government established Landcare nationally, the very first Landcare group was launched in a very small town in central Victoria in 1986 through a collaboration between government, farmers and environmentalists which continues to endure to this day. Over the past 30 years, Landcare has developed into one of Australia's largest volunteer movements, with over 6,000 groups and 100,000 volunteers. That is just amazing. Well done to everyone involved in Landcare.

The Landcare model has been so successful it has been adopted in over 20 countries around the world. Nonetheless, Landcare's greatest asset has always been its people—members of local groups throughout Australia who freely give up their time to advance the objectives of the movement. It's these people we are here today to celebrate, and I especially want to acknowledge the members of the many Landcare groups who have been able to join us this evening. What makes Landcare so special is the way it has been able to bring together stakeholders from all places—landholders, farmers, environmentalists, conservationists, scientists, those in industry and government, and, of course, our traditional custodians of the land. It is this unity which will be central to the movement, meeting the challenges that lay ahead of us all. I want to again thank Senator Davey for her friendship and for asking me to join her in establishing the friendship group.