By KIANA BROOKS-AMOR*
ASSISTANT Minister for Trade and a Future Made in Australia, Senator Tim Ayres was in Morwell last week.
Mr Ayres met with local manufacturers, holding roundtable discussions about current and future growth plans.
The New South Wales-based Senator said he was pleased with the projects Gippsland industries can contribute to the Future Made in Australia initiative.
“The biggest opportunity in front of the Gippsland community is the opportunity that’s posed by offshore wind projects,” he said.
“I want to make sure that where there’s wind projects and transmission projects, that (is where) we’re getting the maximum local content… over the coming years.”
The Future Made in Australia is a federal government plan investing $22.7 billion into energy, metal, technology, and manufacturing innovations and investments in Australia. Mr Ayres said that the plan will secure Australia’s supply chain and “seize” economic opportunities across the country.
While in Morwell, Mr Ayres spoke with local engineering industries, energy investors, local government, trade unions, and other bodies about how to take advantage of Gippsland’s “great industrial capability” and local innovations.
He said investing in wind energy projects and other innovations will not only improve industrial capabilities, but will also bring more jobs to the Latrobe Valley and other areas of Gippsland.
“We’re absolutely committed to…making sure we squeeze every last job out of it (the plan),” he said.
Federal Member for Gippsland, Darren Chester however was critical of the plan, saying it burdens inflation.
“Ironically, the Future Made in Australia policy is looking more like Australian taxpayers copping the bill to build up big foreign companies, with a $1 billion deal with a US company, PsiQuantum, at the centre of the plan,” he said.
“Future Made in Australia is a demonstration of Labor’s wrong priorities in a cost-of-living crisis.”
Mr Chester is a member of the House of Representatives Select Committee investigating nuclear energy potential.
“Australians are more open-minded about this debate than the Labor-Greens, who are focussed on running a scare campaign,” he said.
Both the Committee and Future Made in Australia are interested in submarines for Australia.
Mr Chester said: “(The Committee is) hearing evidence from around the country about the potential to develop a civilian nuclear capacity on top of the AUKUS submarines agreement”.
Mr Ayres said: “We (the Future Made in Australia) are for local manufacturing. We’re for local naval ship building. We’re for building our future submarine fleet here in Australia.”
The Future Made in Australia plan supports the New Energy Apprenticeships Program, which increases eligibility for $10,000 incentive payments.
Mr Ayres said that fee-free TAFE courses aim to keep costs down for apprentices.
Last September, the state government said it had offered more than 80 free TAFE courses.
Mr Ayres believed businesses should employ several apprentices.
“One of the things that I’m interested in, (in) the context of a Future Made in Australia, (is) how we could further support more accountability amongst companies about their effort in terms of apprenticeships,” he said.
Southerly Ten’s Regional Engagement Senior Manager, Paul Johnson, said that the federal plan is “exciting” for Star of the South.
Star of the South is a local offshore wind project set for completion by 2030.
*Kiana Brooks-Amor is a university student completing placement with the Express.
