TRANSCRIPT
As the global race for renewables ramps up, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has unveiled an ambitious new scheme that he says would better harness Australia's natural advantages.
He says if Australia misses this opportunity to boost its economic security through becoming a clean energy superpower, it will not get another.
"We have unlimited potential but we don't have unlimited time. If we don't seize this moment it will pass. If we don’t take this chance, we won’t get another. If we don’t act to shape the future, the future will shape us."
The Prime Minister says his proposed Future Made in Australia Act will seek to revitalise local manufacturing as well as increase control over the nation's resources and critical minerals.
Mr Albanese says the act will also merge existing government programs such as the $1 billion investment into solar panel manufacturing, the $2 billion commitment to hydrogen production, and the $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund, under the one banner.
He has compared the initiative to the Inflation Reduction Act in the United States, saying the Australian version would use taxpayer-funded incentives to help attract international investment.
"Obviously, Australia cannot go dollar for dollar with the United States’ Inflation Reduction Act. But this is not an auction – it’s a competition. Part of the objective here is about Australia presenting potential investors with a clear path to investing in Australia. In Queensland, in hydrogen, in green metals and in advanced manufacturing"
Opposition Leader Peter Dutton says he doesn't believe the government will be able to deliver on this commitment.
"When I hear about him talking on Made in Australia, I hear the same message that he gave to the Australian people on delivering a $275 cut to your power bill. It's just not going to happen. He's promising Australia made solar panels. It's not going to happen because this Prime Minister is driving up every input cost and Australian manufacturing is going broke. Australian manufacturing is failing 300 per cent greater under the Albanese government than it did under the Morrison government."
Meanwhile, President Joe Biden says he's considering a request from Australia to drop efforts to prosecute Wikileaks founder Julian Assange in a brief exchange with reporters.
Mr Assange is fighting extradition to the U-S where he faces 17 espionage charges and one charge of computer misuse over his publication of classified documents almost 15 years ago which included footage of potential U-S war crimes in Iraq.
While President Biden's comments did not show a significant shift, Mr Albanese told A-B-C News that its encouraging to hear the U-S is open to re-evaluating its position.
"Well this in an encouraging comment from President Biden. It's a complex issue there re: the Department of Justice that has responsibility here and the separation of powers that exist between the political wing, if you like, and the judiciary. So we have engaged very much diplomatically at all levels though, including at the highest level of government."
The Prime Minister says there's nothing to be gained by Mr Assange's continued incarceration.
The 52-year-old Australian has been held in Belmarsh maximum security prison in the U-K since April 2019, as he awaits the outcome of his legal challenges to the U-S extradition.
Independent federal M-P Andrew Wilkie, who was among a delegation of M-Ps who previously travelled to Washington to urge politicians against prosecuting Mr Assange, says he hopes the brief comment from Mr Biden indicates a shift in U-S policy.
"I don't know if it was or how considered a comment it was or if it was a considered comment, but I would hope that of all people, the US President is always uttering thoughtful words, so I'll put my faith in Joe Biden at this point in time, I'll accept that it was a thoughtful comment. I will accept that it does signal that the US is prepared to at least listen to Australia at this point in time and just listening is a significant turn of events."
