Horror week for Australian manufacturing
THE HON SUSSAN LEY MP
DEPUTY LEADER OF THE OPPOSITION
SHADOW MINISTER FOR INDUSTRY, SKILLS AND TRAINING
SHADOW MINISTER FOR SMALL AND FAMILY BUSINESS
SHADOW MINISTER FOR WOMEN
FEDERAL MEMBER FOR FARRER
The failure of the Albanese Labor Government to deliver effective industry policies for Australia’s receding manufacturing sector has made it clear for all to see: the crisis in Australian manufacturing is being made in Canberra.
In the week following the announcement of Labor’s ‘Future Made in Australia’ policy, Qenos, one of Australia’s largest chemical manufacturers and plastic makers has gone bust, citing increased energy costs.
It was also announced by the Australian Securities and Investments Commission (ASIC) that the number of companies appointing administrators hit a record in March, soaring to 1,131 — a figure 26 per cent higher than that recorded this time last year, with further records expected to tumble in coming months.
Even the Australian Workers Union (AWU) said that under this Government, Australia’s energy-intensive industries are “genuinely living on the brink.”
In this same week, every single Productivity Commissioner past and present, themselves appointed from both sides of the political aisle, have made public significant concerns with the Government’s industry policy.
Faced with several considered critiques of his ‘Future Made in Australia’ policy, this Prime Minister could only revert to unedified name-calling.
In so doing, the Albanese Labor Government has admitted defeat in the debate over its now-discredited policy. The Government should heed this week’s warnings from the International Monetary Fund (IMF) and withdraw this policy before more money, earned by hard-working Australians, is wasted on more subsidies in ‘politically connected’ industries.
The illogical nature of the Albanese Government’s approach to industry policy manifested again this week, when Labor picked two critical mineral ‘winners’ to share in $600 million of government loans, whilst the National Reconstruction Fund (NRF), purportedly established to independently assess such projects for such facilities, and at arms-length from Government, stands idly by, having not invested a single cent from its $15 billion purse.
The Deputy Leader of the Opposition and Shadow Minister for Industry, Sussan Ley said that this horror week for Australian manufacturing demonstrated a crisis ‘Made in Canberra’ by Labor.
“These Australian businesses shutting up shop in record numbers managed to survive the pandemic and the worst economic crisis since the Great Depression, but have clearly been unable to survive the Albanese Labor Government.
“The jury is well and truly in on Labor’s inability to deliver what Australian manufacturers need and whilst this crisis is being made in Canberra, the solution certainly isn’t.
“Gary Banks won’t give a second thought to the embarrassing attacks of this short-fused Prime Minister, but Australian manufacturers certainly will, with the policies of the Albanese Labor Government dragging them to the brink and offering them nothing if they don’t find themselves the ‘flavour of the month’ in Canberra.”
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