It’s often said that the future is what you make of it.
That is especially true when it comes to Australia’s economic future.
Our nation is blessed by the privilege of proximity. We sit in the region experiencing the fastest economic growth in human history.
We have an opportunity to lock ourselves into this strong economic growth, much of which will be driven by the global shift to renewable energy.
But to seize this opportunity, we need a government with a plan.
Federal Labor’s plan for government is to use Australia’s comparative strengths as a foundation for our next great wave of economic prosperity.
First, we must utilise our abundant reserves of solar and wind energy to provide the cheap power needed to revitalise our traditional and emerging industries.
Cheap energy will be critical to the development of new renewable industries, using our resources like lithium and copper and iron ore, the key materials used to make batteries, wind turbines, electric vehicles and other low-emission products.
Australia can become a renewable energy superpower for the world. We can establish lucrative new sources of export income and create hundreds of thousands of new jobs.
But achieving this aim requires government action.
A Labor government will create the National Reconstruction Fund to provide loans, loan guarantees and other assistance to support the expansion of Australian industry.
The fund will support the expansion of existing sectors such as manufacturing of military hardware, vaccines and medicines, agricultural produce as well as transportation vehicles and equipment.
It will also support emerging industries in manufacturing that add value to our existing resources exports.
It makes no sense to ship bulk resources overseas for others to process and then buy them back at a higher cost. We should add value here, creating new jobs, particularly in regional Australia.
But on its own, supporting business investment will not be enough.
We must also invest in the skills of our greatest asset – our people.
It is unacceptable that there are 85,000 fewer Australians engaged in apprenticeships or traineeships today than on the day the Coalition government took office.
For Australia to prosper in the 21st century, our training system must produce the skills demanded by employers.
Otherwise, skill shortages will continue to act as a handbrake on economic growth.
Labor will create 465,000 free TAFE places and up to 20,000 new university places in areas of skills shortage.
Our Made in Australia Skills Plan will skill up a new generation of mechanics, construction workers and engineers.
It will also train people in resources, digital and cyber security and advanced manufacturing.
And, critically, we will train a new wave of early childhood educators, registered nurses, teachers and aged care and disability care professionals.
The work of care is often done by women, operating in full sight but without due recognition. We should be treating care workers as the national assets they are and investing in their education and Training.
Labor’s new TAFE and university places will provide new opportunities to hundreds of thousands of young people about to embark on their adult careers.
But they will also be available to older Australians who need to retrain because their jobs have been eliminated by mechanisation or other changes, as well as unpaid carers – predominantly women – who want to re-enter the workforce.
A Labor government will further support Australian industry and jobs with the power of purchasing. We’ll develop industry plans in defence and rail manufacturing to boost the capacity of local businesses to supply our nation’s needs.
Too many state governments have bought trains, trams and ferries from overseas suppliers, only to find them unfit for purpose when they are delivered.
Then we get Australian workers to fix them. It doesn’t make sense. We should build ferries, trains, trams and buses here.
Skills and industry will build a stronger future. One of the biggest lessons from the Covid pandemic has been that our nation has lost some important industries that are critical in times of trouble.
Our inability to make mRNA vaccines, for example, left us badly exposed when the Morrison-Joyce government failed to secure enough vaccines from overseas to meet our national needs.
We should make our own medical supplies and news that mRNA vaccines will be made in Melbourne from 2024 is welcome, but late. We can’t allow ourselves to be hostage to unpredictable global supply chains that collapse in a crisis.
Labor will make Australia more resilient by supporting critical industries. In addition, our 10-point Buy Australia Plan will ensure every government department prioritises buying from local industries wherever possible, rather from overseas.
Increasing our resilience and expanding Australia’s export footprint will be challenging, but also provide opportunities.
Labor has the plan to turn these opportunities into jobs.
