Zaneta Mascarenhas MP

Federation Chamber, Parliament House, Canberra
Private Members’ Business

I move:

That this House:

1. commends the Government for its $500 million Battery Breakthrough Initiative that will give Australian businesses access to capital grants and production incentives through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA);
2. recognises:
   1. that this latest piece of the Future Made in Australia represents a commitment to the growth of our national battery manufacturing industry which is essential to our future energy independence, affordability and our sovereign capabilities;
   2. that batteries are essential to all aspects of modem life both in Australia and abroad, and that securing jobs in this growing sector is a race with global competition; and
   3. the urgent need to progress Australian industry up the manufacturing value chain to lock in our place in the global energy economy and make the most of our comparative advantages in resources and renewables;
3. further commends:
   
   1. the Government for its commitment to consultation in designing this scheme alongside ARENA, with stakeholders in industry for maximum impact; and
   2. Australian industry and researchers for driving the move towards a clean energy future even before they had a partner in Canberra; and

      4. calls on the Opposition to:

1. 1. support the Government's commitment to local manufacturing and securing the Australian jobs of the future; and
   2. cease its attempts to distract from and derail the global push to reduce emissions as it is out of step with the national interest and decreases certainty for businesses.

I rise today as the mover of this motion to commend the Albanese Labor government's $500 million Battery Breakthrough Initiative. This a vital step, one of many, in picking up the pace for the Future Made in Australia race. It is one step closer, as we move in the right direction towards our goal of setting the National Battery Strategy.

This ambitious target for 2035 is about Australia becoming a globally competitive producer of batteries and battery materials. This will leverage our natural advantages—our abundant critical minerals below the ground and our abundant renewable energy above the ground—and, of course, our skilled people. Building future export industries and strengthening our economic resilience, this initiative supports that goal by investing in manufacturing capability, innovation and workforce development.

In my first speech, I described to the House the six steps required to make a battery: first, mining the raw materials; then processing the materials; then, of course, manufacturing the battery components; assembling those components; and, finally, installation and maintenance. I spoke with the hope that, if we could do all six of these steps, including manufacturing, it would help create a competitive export industry as well as high-quality jobs. This initiative will provide targeted funding to help manufacturers produce high-value battery products and scale up operations.

I'm pleased to say that Australian companies actually have form already in this exciting space—for example, Feline Industries, which is solving battery safety challenges for the defence and maritime sectors. We have Sicona, with their breakthrough new materials that increase both the driving range and charging speed of electric vehicles. Then we have Gelion, producing non-flammable zinc-bromide batteries ideal for remote, hot environments. Non-flammable battery chemistries are needed to improve safety in Australian heat. This was explored during the electric vehicle inquiry. Gelion received $4.8 million in ARENA funding, with around matched funding to support their advanced commercial prototyping centres.

We are proud to be backing companies like this. New industry will create value and share it better than ever. The initiative applies community benefit principles to ensure that investment reaches local communities, ensuring private and public investment flows to create real jobs right here in Australia. It promotes inclusive workforce development, supporting First Nations employment, gender equality and regional transition opportunities.

Whether you want to call it stepping up, tooling up or powering up—either way, we are acting because we want to compete in the global supply chain. As these companies show, projects must demonstrate their readiness for deployment with technologies at TRL 6 or higher. That means that the system process has a prototype demonstrating itself in an operational environment as the minimum. We are backing scalable, real-world solutions that reduce emissions and grow the economy.

For those supposed competition hawks on the other side—they always forget one of the economic keys to competition, and that is the flow of information and data. All funded projects will be required to share data insights, which will help accelerate innovation across the sector. Australia doesn't have to be the biggest manufacturing sector, but we can damn well try to be the smartest. This is a government that believes that, when Aussies put their heads together, we can solve problems with the best of them. This collaborative approach builds a stronger, faster, smarter and better industry.

We're doing this because there is a race in the decarbonised economy. This is a race, and we're all in it together to win it—but will we? The opposition continues to undermine renewables. They can't support clean energy because of ideological purposes. They can't tell the difference between the nation's interests and the National Party's interests. They have confined themselves to the bench in the game of the century. When they're not fighting amongst themselves, they're sending the Member for New England out as a distracting mascot.

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