A Shorten Labor Government will invest $1 billion in Australian advanced manufacturing to support Australian industries, grow Australian businesses and create Australian jobs.
The Hon Mark Dreyfus QC MP
Shadow Attorney General
Shadow Minister for National Security
Federal Member for Isaacs
LABOR COMMITS $1 BILLION BOOST FOR ADVANCED MANUFACTURING JOBS
A Shorten Labor Government will invest $1 billion in Australian advanced manufacturing to support Australian industries, grow Australian businesses and create Australian jobs.
Local workers and small and medium enterprises in Melbournes South-East will benefit from Labors Australian Manufacturing Future Fund, which will provide finance to firms who might find it difficult to obtain private sources of finance.
Labor recognises that some manufacturers in Melbournes South-East need assistance to modernise and move into high-value production to make them globally competitive. The Australian Manufacturing Future Fund will help our local manufacturers grow, innovate, diversify, and develop new opportunities. This could mean:
Auto component manufacturers re-tooling or diversifying into other industries;
Food manufacturers investing in new equipment to package new products for export markets;
Metals fabricators expanding into pre-fabricated housing.
This is all about Australian jobs, Member for Isaacs Mark Dreyfus said.
While Mr Turnbull and his Liberals give tax handouts to multinationals and millionaires, Labor is backing Aussie businesses that make things in Australia, by Australians.
There is currently a finance gap for innovative small and medium enterprises in the manufacturing sector. Business leaders such as the Australian Industry Group have said that financial institutions are downgrading manufacturing industries and making access to finance more difficult and expensive for businesses across the entire sector, regardless of individual circumstances or risk.
Thats where a good government should act, to boost the economy and create local jobs.
Manufacturing is the lifeblood of employment in Melbournes South-East. The Liberal Partys abandonment of our manufacturing industries has been a disaster for our community. A Labor government will invest in local jobs and local people, Mr Dreyfus said.
The Australian Manufacturing Future Fund will be modelled on Labors highly successful Clean Energy Finance Corporation (CEFC).
It will facilitate investment in advanced manufacturing, engineering and design by partnering with private finance to reduce the perceived risk in innovative projects. Reducing that risk will make these projects more attractive to lenders of private capital.
The Fund will apply commercial rigour when making investments, and will offer financing including, but not limited to, equity, concessional loans and loan guarantees.
Upon establishment, a Labor Government would, via the Funds board, request that priority is given to consideration of transformative investments in the automotive manufacturing and food manufacturing sectors.
Australian manufacturing has a bright future. It just needs a government that values jobs and local skills. I can assure local residents that unlike the Liberals, Labor will back in local jobs and local manufacturing, Mr Dreyfus said.
MONDAY 23 OCTOBER 2017
