PRIVATE MEMBERS' BUSINESS

Mr HOLZBERGER (Forde) (11:26): I move: That this House: (1) notes that wars, trade disruption and supply shocks over the past decade have exposed vulnerabilities in global supply chains and reinforced the need for Australia to strengthen its sovereign industrial capability; (2) recognises that Australia has the workers, resources, energy and ideas to make more here, add greater value to our resources and harness new technologies; (3) commends the Government for its Future Made in Australia agenda, which is rebuilding Australia's industrial base, strengthening critical supply chains and supporting secure, well-paid jobs; (4) acknowledges the Government's action to help safeguard nationally significant metal-processing facilities and their interconnected supply chains in the Hunter, Mount Isa, Port Pirie, Hobart, Whyalla and Gladstone; (5) further notes that: (a) the $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund Corporation (NRFC) complements this work by making targeted investments in priority areas; and (b) to date, the NRFC has announced 31 investments totalling $1.77 billion across housing, resources, biotech, artificial intelligence, food and beverage, manufacturing and quantum development; and (6) affirms the Government's ongoing support to strengthen Australia's sovereign industrial capability, secure critical supply chains, crowd in investment and create well-paid, skilled jobs in the industries that will drive Australia's future prosperity.

I note that the member for Spence, who has just recently left this chamber, caused me to think about what really drove Australia's postwar economic miracle, and the three things which occurred since the founding of Elizabeth, in his electorate, which have in many ways destroyed that economic miracle: privatisation, economic rationalism and unfettered free trade.

What we see in the community of Elizabeth is one of the best examples in South Australia. We had public housing built for workers to keep the cost of living down, to keep the pressure off wages and to attract international manufacturing, which is always looking for the best deal. It provided cheap public energy to keep the cost of living down for workers, keeping the pressure off wages and also keeping the pressure off manufacturing costs.

And it provided high tariffs and the support of the car industry through tariffs. What we've seen over the last 30 years of mainly conservative governments is privatisation writ large, economic rationalism gone crazy and unfettered free trade. In defence of free trade, I think nobody sensible could argue for an increase in tariffs.

That is something which I think history has shown. Low tariffs have meant cheap imports, cheap consumer goods and cheap inputs into manufacturing, which is probably one of the biggest reasons that we've been able to keep inflation down over the last 30 years. So I think there is no argument over the sensibility of low tariffs.

But what has failed this country—Elizabeth is the best example because Joe Hockey, the Liberal treasurer at the time, dared the car industry to walk out and shut the car industry down, and of course the car industry walked out and shut down. He dared it to walk out. Well, they saw that dare, and they left.

What we have seen with unfettered free trade is that we have steelyards competing against foreign state owned steelyards and foreign state owned airlines. While there is this theory of a level playing field, it is not one in practice. The Future Made in Australia goes to the heart of levelling that playing field.

What we saw during COVID, the war in Ukraine and the war in the Middle East is that everything works until it doesn't. The moment a real strain was placed on those international supply chains, which Australia unfortunately is at the end of, the economy buckled. That is the reason, more than any other, that we are dealing with the inflation and the cost-of-living pressures that we have today.

You need a government to be involved again. You need the government to use programs such as the $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund. Of course, this fund is not a theory, and, in Forde, it is very much a reality.

In Forde, we have a company called Gilmour Space, which is the only Australian company that is going for the literal space shot—to put satellites and rockets into low-earth orbit. It is a remarkable company, led by remarkable people. It was the recent investment of $75 million into Gilmour Space which allowed for the crowding in of other investors.

It was when Gilmour Space was trying to raise some capital recently that the government came in through the National Reconstruction Fund to put in that $75 million. That gave other investors the confidence to move in and back this exciting Australian company. It was put to me by somebody that the NRF is going to make money for us, as a government, and for the taxpayer.

It is not only going to supercharge investment—crowd in investment—in other areas but it is also going to have a measurable economic return on that bottom line. Whether it is the NRF, whether it is backing steel in Whyalla, whether it's backing lead and zinc in Port Pirie, whether it's backing aluminium in Gladstone and Tomago, or whether it's backing copper in Townsville and in Mount Isa, this government is about getting back to those basic roots that made our economy strong in the first place.

We are supercharging a renewable energy system that is going to provide cheap power and energy and building public housing again for the first time for workers. This government is about getting back on track and getting Australia back to that economic miracle, and, to that, I commend the motion. The DEPUTY SPEAKER ( Ms Sharkie ): Is the motion seconded?

Mr Gregg: I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.