News

9 September 2024

This is important. Whilst I support this bill, it can go further and be much clearer. A future made in Australia is vital for our future. I do support the intent of this legislation, but we must be very clear about the detail. The world is decarbonising, with demand growing for commodities and products that will enable global decarbonisation. Australia, with its abundant natural resources and capacity for innovation, can capitalise on this demand and strengthen our economy through green exports. While the opportunities are great, the opportunity cost is even greater. By failing to seize this opportunity to develop green exports, the world will decarbonise, and demand for our traditional commodities of coal and gas will decline, undermining our economy. I acknowledge that. So we need to be very clear, when we say 'a future made in Australia', just how we are going to deliver the intention and the goal that is stated.

The policy is welcome, but it must be central to and the cornerstone of our economic policy for decades to come. It must be clear what it is aligned to, and that is a net zero world—clean energy, clean resources and clean technology. That is vital. We must play to our natural advantage, support both existing and new players and ensure funding is targeted and fiscally responsible to ensure a return on investment. It must also be focused on decarbonising our own domestic operations and enable global decarbonisation.

The amendments that I moved today focus on ensuring that decarbonisation remains the focus of this Future Made in Australia policy. The government has considered my amendments, and I thank the Treasurer and his team for the discussions that we've had in that respect. I believe part of one of my amendments will be offered up as part of a government amendment, which will address some concerns but not all of the concerns that I've expressed. I understand the government will adopt, in part, one of my amendments, which is in respect to First Nations communities and traditional owners being able to participate in and share the benefits of the net zero transition. This is important, and I welcome this move.

However, I understand they're not going to accept the amendments around making sure emissions reduction is at the core of a future made in Australia. They believe it's already implicit in this bill, but, as we see too often in this place, there is no such thing as being implicit in legislation. It must be explicit. Specifically, the amendments I've moved to the preamble and objects of this act make reference to the Paris Agreement in keeping global warming to 1.5 degrees of warming. We must ensure an investment of the scale of Future Made in Australia is in line with that commitment; it must be linked to that.

The current bill considers decarbonisation and the net zero economy considerations in only one stream, with the second stream referring to economic resilience and security. But you cannot have economic resilience and security unless you are operating in a net zero economy. Therefore, my amendments expressly state that support under this stream is for economic resilience, climate resilience and security within a net zero economy. These amendments will not only safeguard against the Future Made in Australia supporting fossil fuel projects, which absolutely should not happen, but also ensure that any support under the legislation, whether it be for medical manufacturing or defence manufacturing, is given to a project and business aligned with net zero goals.

My amendments also mean that sector assessments must take into account direct emissions and decarbonisation potential, recognising that some projects, such as critical minerals value-adding, may add to Australia's emissions but, ultimately, lead to a substantial net decrease in emissions over their life cycle through the decarbonisation that they will enable—for example, electric vehicles and batteries. We must integrate decarbonisation in every aspect of legislation, especially when we are talking about the substantial spending of public money.

I commend the amendments to the House.