Nita Green (Queensland, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Yesterday was a fantastic day to be a regional Queenslander because yesterday we saw more investment in our manufacturing industry by the Palaszczuk government. Yesterday there was a $7 billion vote of confidence from the Queensland Labor government in our manufacturing sector, in the community of Maryborough. The Queensland government has announced plans to build 65 trains in Maryborough, and this means thousands of jobs—like welders, boilermakers, fitters and electricians—for Queenslanders, and it will supercharge our manufacturing industry.

What a difference.

What a difference this is to those sitting opposite—those in the Liberal and National parties in Queensland. When they were in government, they had trains built overseas. They turned their back on local manufacturers, on local tradies and on local businesses and made a mess of the state's train fleet.

This fantastic announcement by the Queensland government just so happened to fall on the very day that, four years ago, Australia manufactured its last car. That was when the last Holden rolled off the production line in Adelaide, because the Liberal-National government and the Treasurer at the time, Joe Hockey, dared Holden to leave. This serves as a reminder of what we've lost under the Liberal-National government when it comes to manufacturing. They don't value the industry and they don't value the workers in it. They certainly don't value the skills required in the industry. You only have to look at the government's own data to see their appalling record on skills. Across Queensland, we've lost thousands of apprentices.

Labor will rebuild manufacturing in Queensland. Under an Anthony Albanese government, we will rebuild skills and we will bring manufacturing back home to Queensland.