Future Made in Australia (Production Tax Credits and Other Measures) 2024
28 November 2024
A Future Made in Australia is the flagship policy for the Albanese Labor government, but, more importantly than that, this $22.7 billion investment guides and positions us towards a shared goal of rebuilding our nation's domestic manufacturing base and also participating in a new global economy that is upon us right now. If we are not fleet footed, sure footed and front footed, we will be last in this global race. We have everything we need to be part of it, and we must lead the way. We are going to be securing good jobs for blue-collar workers. We're going to be part of this emerging world market for new forms of energy like hydrogen.
The Future Made in Australia (Production Tax Credits and Other Measures) Bill 2024 is a vital element of ensuring the success not only of this policy but, quite frankly, of our country in a world that is ever hungry for energy and ever innovating. We have the critical minerals. We have the things that are absolutely required to take us on this journey. This is the way of the future, and it is the future of Australia. We must be part of it. We know our short-term and immediate policy initiatives have been strong and effective: tax credits for every taxpayer, energy bill relief and cheaper medicines, just to name a few. Through these measures, we have put more money back into the accounts and pockets of every Australian taxpayer, and that counts. This piece of legislation is going to help secure the future of our economy.
We know we can't click our fingers and arrive at the finish line in that global race straightaway. We know that things take time. But, like all good governments, we have put in the hard yards to build responsible policy. We're now building long-term policy, and we are future focused, and that's what these production tax credits are about. They are about saying to companies, 'We are going to give you a credit because you are paving a new way and charting a new course for our future.'
Yes, some of the technology is still emerging, but we have to be part of it. We can't get left behind. Our government has been clear and transparent about our ideals, our intentions and our aspirations in designing a road map for a more resilient Australia, and we saw this during COVID. We saw very clearly that there is a delicate balance between trading with the rest of the world and having that trade reduced by something like a viral pandemic. We do need a certain amount of resilience in our own manufacturing sector, so we have to strike that incredibly important balance between what we can mine and manufacture here and what we, importantly, trade with the rest of the world. This is what smart governments do. We don't turn our back and face in one singular direction. This is a multifaceted, multidirectional and, quite frankly, multitechnology world that we live in, and we must be part of it.
For many decades, we were considered world leaders in energy, and we still are. We keep the lights on in places like Tokyo, Taipei and Beijing with our incredible coal, which is mined in places like my electorate and that of my friend and colleague the member for Hunter, and we know that that's an enormous part of our current energy mis. But we also know that, as the Minister for Resources has said time and time again in this parliament, the road to net zero runs through the Australian resources industry, including things like critical minerals. This bill is going to deliver targeted economic investments in key industries such as renewable hydrogen and critical minerals, and it's going to unlock private investment. I couldn't be prouder to support this bill today, and I just say to those opposite: get on board, because we cannot be left behind in this race.
