Zaneta Mascarenhas MP
House of Representatives, Parliament House, Canberra
Bills
What does the future of Australia look like under a Labor Albanese government? Jobs, jobs and jobs. And not just any job—good jobs, secure jobs, well-paid jobs, jobs that our kids can be proud of, jobs that will exist in the year 2100. Australia is rich in critical minerals and needs to build batteries, wind turbines and solar panels. We can rewire the nation so we can power Australia for the future. We can become a renewable energy superpower.
I thank the member for Fisher for pointing out the similarities that we have. The Clean Energy Finance Corporation, which the Labor Party put together and the coalition kept, was great policy. We took 10 months to get the architecture right, and we got it right. And have a look: the architecture is still in place; there are still companies that are using the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to fund projects and finance projects that we need right now.
In my first speech I spoke of my father, who, after 19 years of service at the nickel mine, was made redundant because the nickel price tanked. He was 56 years old at the time. He's a man from a generation of metalworkers who have less than 10 fingers—my dad has 9½. Losing his job hurt him far more than losing his finger did. In the climate space, we have the term 'stranded assets'. These are things that have been prematurely written off. My father felt like a stranded asset. He was someone who had more to give. From the age of 16, my dad was the breadwinner for his family. This was ingrained in him.
When we talk about markets, jobs and economic fluctuations, we cannot lose sight of the fact that what we're actually talking about is people and prosperity and homes and families—hopes and aspirations. A disruptive exit out of carbon-intensive industries will hurt people. So, yes, I want strong action on climate change, but I also want a just and orderly transition. Our carbon-intensive industries aren't something to be left to the market to sort out alone, nor are they things that can be switched off overnight. There needs to be a plan for transition that acknowledges that it's no longer business as usual for our large emitters whilst also ensuring that Australian workers have a place for them to work and for their children to work—obviously, when they're of working age—with jobs that are meaningful and jobs that are secure. That's why I support the National Reconstruction Fund.
The National Reconstruction Fund Corporation Bill 2022 will establish and fund a body that finances investments in seven priority areas across the Australian economy. That includes value-adding in the resource sector, something that's very important to Western Australia; value-adding in the agriculture, forestry and fisheries sector; expanding transport manufacturing capability, and here I'll point out that we now manufacture our own trains in WA; medical science; defence capabilities; and enabling capabilities such as data science and software development.
Finally, the things that I would like to focus on the most are renewables and low-emissions technology. For 12 years, I have spent my professional career working with some of Australia's biggest companies that emit large amounts of carbon dioxide into the atmosphere to help them transition to a low-emissions economy. During the time that I worked, what I saw was that there was nine years of delay and denial under the previous coalition government. However, in WA, there were parts of the private sector that were getting on with business and reducing emissions.
Despite this, we need the whole economy to transform, and we need to make sure that all workers are prepared for the transition to net zero emissions by 2050, and this requires a plan from government. Without a plan, we risk workers and communities, and they are at risk of being left behind. We risk more Australians in transitioning industries becoming stranded assets. Under the previous government, there were nine industry ministers in nine years. That's nine years without a plan. However, I would like to acknowledge the member for McPherson as a standout in her time as industry minister. She oversaw a remarkable turnaround in Australia's domestic capacity during the COVID-19 pandemic.
Harvard University's Center for International Development ranks economies according to diversity and complexity to assess their potential for growth. They placed Australia at 91 out of 133 in 2020. Our neighbours on that scale were Kenya and Namibia. In the last decade, we have slipped 21 places. When we put our all our economic eggs in one basket, we open ourselves up to risks. Simply put, the Australian economy needs to become more sophisticated. We need to diversify, and we need to be able to do advanced manufacturing. We need to be able to make it here and build it here.
As our economy transitions, there needs to be a safe and stable set of hands inspiring confidence among manufacturers to invest in capital to provide jobs for the future. A diversified industrial sector will insulate our economy against risks. The decade of delay, waste and indecision did not set up Australia well to enter this current chapter of Australia's history. A future economic vision for Australia is needed now more than ever. Capital markets are moving, and they are moving fast. Businesses and investors are turning away from fossil fuels. The market is shifting away to renewable and cleaner forms of energy, and the government must play a role to support this shift to ensure that our communities, industries and workers can be there to benefit from this change.
There is so much opportunity, and we need to realise this. We would be doing our communities a disservice if we didn't act and if we pretended that it was business as usual for the next 30 years. We would be setting up workers, towns and regional economies for failure. We're acting immediately on this challenge, because the days of delay and denial on clean energy have sent a chill through renewable energy manufacturers. This is why we have brought this bill before the House in the first eight months of our term.
The Albanese Labor government has a plan for Australia's economy. We're fixing the safeguard mechanism while rewiring the nation and increasing the amount of renewable energy into the grid. This backdrop to the decarbonising of the economy creates lower emissions electricity and cheaper electricity, and this will be a fantastic backdrop to the building of our manufacturing capability. We're going to build our capacity and confidence in the economy, and then walk with our workers and communities together in the transition process.
When Minister Husic launched our nation's first battery strategy, on the third of this month, he chose to do so at Energy Renaissance, an Australian lithium-ion battery technology manufacturing company at Tomago, in the Hunter Valley of New South Wales. It's a remarkable region with remarkable representatives such as the wonderful members for Hunter, Shortland, Paterson and Newcastle. It's a region that's a powerhouse of the Australian economy and one that has a proud history of building things for this country.
Our centres of manufacturing should not only be about making high-quality Australian products; they should also be places where new industries can flourish. Our battery strategy will be integral to helping Australia transition to a decarbonised economy, hit our ambitious targets, foster Australian innovation and support Australian industry. The strategy, in conjunction with the National Reconstruction Fund, will send a strong message to investors about Australia's industrial potential in battery manufacturing.
The National Reconstruction Fund has earmarked up to $3 billion of funding to support the Powering Australia plan. This will drive investment in areas such as clean energy component manufacturing and technologies, and improved energy efficiency. Australians invented photovoltaic technology, but today about 85 per cent of the world's cells are made in one country. Over the next three years, that will become 95 per cent. Australian manufacturers of hydrogen electrolysers, green metals, wind turbine components and, of course, batteries should take comfort in knowing that we want them to succeed here.
Australian innovation shouldn't mean that we're going to send that intellectual property overseas and offshore jobs. If we're talented enough to invent it here then we should be able to make it here. Governments can and should strategically and thoughtfully invest in industries for the future. Investing in manufacturing will be critical for Australia's economy to transition to net zero. It will also be critical for us to have sovereign manufacturing capacity in times of crisis. When the pandemic hit, there was one factory in Victoria producing face masks.
I want to echo the remarks of the member for Robertson, who recounted his experience with personal protective equipment availability during the early stages of the COVID pandemic and the risks to which that exposed our front-line workers. Global supply chain shocks such as COVID and the Russian invasion of Ukraine have tested our domestic energy markets, fertiliser stocks and, as mentioned, medicines and medical equipment. Developing our manufacturing capacity will expand our sovereign capacity. In these increasingly uncertain times, this must be a national priority. This bill puts forward a plan for sovereign capacity and the money we need to execute that plan.
Dr Jens Goennemann, from the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre, has observed that, if we understand manufacturing as a capability that permeates every industry, we can transform Australia from a lucky country to a smart country. Australia has demonstrated that it has the capacity to produce medical personal protective equipment. Adarsh, in Western Australia, was able to direct its manufacturing capabilities to produce 10,000 face shields for our front-line medical staff within the first four months of the pandemic hitting the WA shores. They could do this because they had pre-existing manufacturing capability. There has to be a base level of capacity for us to ramp up.
Ensuring the strong foundations of a manufacturing sector relies on an interconnected manufacturing ecosystem. One example is large car manufacturers in Adelaide and Melbourne. They created downstream demand for components such as windshields, cast metals and textiles. Then there was the creation of ventilators in Australia in the COVID-19 pandemic. That came through researchers working with manufacturers such as Ford and precision tool company ANCA to meet domestic needs and save lives. The other example I'd like to highlight is in Western Australia, where trains are built on site in WA for WA railway lines. It was interesting to hear earlier about trains being built in New South Wales—$2 billion I think—and the trains could not fit the track. They had to change the platforms where they were being delivered.
By developing the capacity of one aspect of a sector, we're creating job for the future downstream and the ability to adapt when our nation faces times of crises. Conversely, if you shut down an industry, like the Liberals did to the car manufacturing sector, you send shockwaves through to small and medium businesses and suppliers.
I support this bill because I think the government can and should strategically and thoughtfully invest in industries for the future. This is what this bill does, and this is how we will create jobs. As our economy transitions away from emission-intensive industries, there needs to be a plan. We cannot leave the future of our workers and communities to chance. It was heartbreaking to see my father become a so-called 'stranded asset'. I don't want that for anyone, least of all the constituents of Swan.
