ADJOURNMENT
Mr ABDO (Calwell) (19:45): I have spoken before about how the Liberals broke the social contract with working families by daring Australian manufacturers to move offshore. It was more than neglect; it was economic vandalism, and our country is still reeling from it. The flow-on effects don't just happen overnight.
They ripple through the economy and through sectors until that decline bears its weight on communities. Imagine if, instead of attacking Australian industry, the Liberals had shown some foresight—if they had looked beyond the next political cycle. Their complacency came at a cost.
During the pandemic, we didn't have all that we needed. When prices spiked during global conflict, we felt it. When supply chains seized up, businesses wore the costs.
We learnt that countries are stronger when they can make more things themselves. Sovereign capability matters. Australia has the workers, resources, energy and ideas to build new industries here, and we have a plan that is delivering.
We are backing the factories, processing plants, TAFEs and local businesses that create good jobs in our outer suburbs and our regions. That is what Future Made in Australia is about. It is about making Australia stronger, more resilient and more secure by backing industry here at home.
It is about doing more with what we have right here in Australia, generating more value at home, creating more jobs and making our country less reliant on overseas supply chains. It is about backing Australian ideas, Australian energy, Australian resources and Australian workers. And it is about drawing on the skills and talents in our outer suburbs and regions to build a stronger and secure country for all Australians.
This is not about making everything; it is about making the things that matter. It is about supporting existing industries through the clean energy transition and building the industries that will matter to Australia's future: clean energy manufacturing, green metals, critical minerals processing, defence and advanced technologies, medical technology and quantum and AI research and innovation.
It is about turning Australian innovation into Australian manufacturing and making sure the benefits of that investment reach the people and places that make it possible. If public investment is helping to unlock private capital, and if governments are helping to build new industries, then those industries must deliver tangible benefits for workers, businesses and communities.
It's about recognising that communities should not be passive bystanders in industrial change; they should share in the opportunities. They should see local jobs. They should see apprenticeships.
They should see local suppliers getting a fair shot. They should see TAFEs, universities and businesses working together, so people can train for the jobs that are coming. That is what a future made in Australia should mean in practice.
It means upgrading TAFEs in the outer suburbs and regions, so people can train for the jobs that are coming, with real pathways for women into trades and technical careers. It means backing blue-collar workers, tradies, engineers, researchers and scientists—the people who are building the industries that make Australia stronger. And it means making sure workers and communities are not left behind as industries change and grow.
We are already seeing what this looks like. Through targeted investment, we are taking hold of the renewable energy opportunity and unlocking private capital, giving businesses the confidence they need to grow. The National Reconstruction Fund is backing businesses in priority industries that lift manufacturing value-add and enhance local capability.
Across the country, Future Made in Australia is helping secure industrial jobs, strengthen supply chains and create new opportunities in the industries that will shape our future. In Victoria, Future Made in Australia is helping turn Australian innovation into local manufacturing and good jobs across the state. National Reconstruction Fund investment in companies like PolyActiva and Synchron is backing Australian medical technology developed here at home.
Investments in companies like Applied Electric Vehicles are growing advanced vehicle manufacturing and helping build new high-skilled industries for the future. This is what it means to rebuild and strengthen Australia's industrial base. It's hard work.
Establishing new industries is not a linear process, but this government unashamedly backs Australian ingenuity and industrial effort. We back the people who design, make, maintain, repair and improve the things our country needs. We back the factories, processing plants, TAFEs and local businesses that create good jobs in our outer suburbs and regions.
And we back the communities that have backed Australian industry for generations. Future Made in Australia is about turning those strengths into jobs, investment and industry here at home.