QUESTIONS WITHOUT NOTICE

Senator AYRES (New South Wales—Minister for Industry and Innovation and Minister for Science) (15:08): The risk is, if you don't take a fair dinkum approach and you're not honest about the problems that confront these businesses, then you can't be part of the solution. We have delivered for those heavy-industry facilities. We've delivered a 43 per cent increase in manufacturing exports and $56 billion worth of additional exports, and manufacturing investment is up by 35 per cent.

Much of that can be credited to the work of our very fine Minister for Trade and Tourism over here. There are 7,000 more manufacturing firms in Australia than when the Albanese government came to office. The manufacturing share of GDP is up by 22 per cent.

If you actually break a sweat and work on behalf of Australians and work with them, instead of yelling dishonest slogans at them, you make real progress and deliver real change in the outer suburbs and the industrial suburbs that used to be able to count on some of these characters for some fair dinkum support. (Time expired) Senator Farrell: President, I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.