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When the Prime Minister talks about ‘Future Made in Australia,’ he really means unworkable renewable projects made in Australia but owned by mostly foreign multinational corporations. There’s no national pride in this; it’s simply a cash cow for the PM’s renewables mates.  The money is election fairy floss and not much more. 

In this speech, I highlight projects that are genuinely made in Australia and involve mostly Australian companies and will grow the wealth and prosperity of our beautiful country. This includes the Iron Boomerang project, which will create a rail crossing across the top end, benefiting Aboriginal communities, grazing, and mining. It will also drive the Capricornia steel project at Port Hedland and Abbot Point, which will generate 40,000 breadwinner jobs, add $100 billion to our GDP and contribute $25 billion in government revenue. 

One Nation builds, while the Albanese Government delivers press releases. 

Transcript

The Future Made in Australia Bill 2024 provides a legislative framework for parts of the government ‘s Future Made in Australia policy. This provides for an investment of $22.7 billion over the next 10 years to ‘help Australia become an indispensable part of the global economy as the world transforms to net zero emissions and undergoes the most significant changes since the industrial revolution’. The government talks about maximising the economic and industrial benefits of the move to net zero and securing Australia’s place in a changing global economic and strategic landscape. Specifically, the following claim is made by the government: 

Given our critical and abundant natural endowments and skilled workforce, Australia is well positioned to strengthen priority supply chains and become an indispensable part of the net zero global economy. 

One Nation are big supporters of the first part of that statement. Australia is blessed with abundant and substantial mineral resources, and it’s our obligation to share those with the world so other countries can enjoy the standard of living we have. That is, we used to have it. Now our economy is in a race to the bottom, with the Greens, teals and Labor in a race to see how many wealth-generating projects they can shut down. 

The Future Made in Australia agenda includes broader investments in the government’s growth agenda, including critical technologies, defence priorities, skills in priority sectors, a competitive business environment and reforms to better attract and deploy investment—in particular, projects where some level of domestic capability is necessary for efficient delivery of economic resilience and security and the private sector will not deliver the necessary investment in the sector in the absence of government support. That’s an important point. I have been working with the project sponsor of Capricorn Steel, a steel park project in northern Queensland, which I will speak more often a moment. This project, known also as Project Iron Boomerang, includes a railway, port and new energy efficient ships. This is a $50 billion project, initially, which is to be entirely financed through private equity, who have the money ready to go but will not commit it, because they don’t trust the Australian government. After watching a litany of cancelled projects—like Adani, where a billionaire from India wanted to invest $17 billion in Australia, and we did our best as a country and as the state of Queensland to keep him out—long legal delays and general incompetence, financiers are taking their money elsewhere. 

This is why the government is now creating an investment pathway to get things built again. It’s the government or nothing. The prime function of the government is to build infrastructure projects that allow private enterprise to grow the economy and raise the wealth and prosperity of all Australians; to improve productivity in a way that protects the natural environment. This bill adds a layer on top, which is that the development must be net zero friendly. 

One Nation doesn’t believe in the United Nations’ globalist net zero agenda. There is no empirical scientific data, no logical scientific points and no policy basis. We’ve seen that repeatedly. We believe it involves a massive transfer of wealth from everyday citizens into the pockets of the world’s predatory billionaires—billionaire parasites sucking solar and wind subsidies. It forms a highly regressive tax on the poor using electricity. We wonder when the Left signed on to a crony capitalist agenda that hurts everyday Australians for no environmental benefit. That’s a separate issue. One Nation does agree the national environment should be protected. We are stewards of the most fragile ecosystem in the world, and we must act with care. This bill doesn’t actually mention good stewardship of the natural environment, but it’s okay; One Nation does that as part of our core party values. 

The Future Made in Australia policy includes the following broad stated aims: firstly, attracting investment in key industries through the national investment framework, streamlining approval processes for investment and encouraging private sector investment in sustainable industries; secondly, investing in net zero industries and increasing the demand for Australia’s green exports; thirdly, strengthening resources and economic security by investing in resources and critical mineral supply chains, as well as investing in manufacturing of clean energy technology; and fourthly, investing in new technologies and capabilities, reforming tertiary education, providing a training and skills pipeline for Future Made in Australia priority industries, strengthening defence capability and increasing drought and disaster resilience, among other things. 

The bill establishes the National Interest Framework, to be used for sector assessments which will determine which sectors of the economy are ones in which Australia could have a competitive advantage in a net zero economy and that require government investment, or where some degree of domestic capacity is required for the economic resilience and security. The government’s stated guidelines in this section include a community benefit test which includes promoting safe, secure and well-paid work; developing skilled and inclusive workforces; working with communities to achieve positive outcomes, in particular First Nations communities and those affected by the transition to net zero; and strengthening domestic industrial capabilities, including local supply chains. This sounds like socialism—government wanting to control. 

One Nation agrees with the intent. In particular, the industrial and mining sectors are being hollowed out through net zero measures to the detriment of the workers, unionists and their families. If the government is telling the truth, they will be able to rectify what they’ve already done in hollowing out the bush and the mining and manufacturing. Otherwise, fine Australian workers will join the tent cities that have sprung up under this Labor government. It should be pointed out that local supply chains are in fact part of the United Nations 2030 sustainability goals. It is more commonly called short supply chains. This goal encourages local supply of all goods and services, especially food. This may seem fine until you realise that, under this goal, anything which can’t be supplied locally will not be available at all. That’s the design. Except it will be available to the nomenklatura who can afford the carbon dioxide tax on long supply chains. If Australians want to live in a world that even vaguely resembles the world we grew up in, then local manufacturing is essential. 

This bill seems to represent a newfound realisation by the Albanese Labor government that their union bosses and union members are running out of jobs, the economy is tanking and the next election is moving way out of reach. One Nation can get on board with making things here again. We can’t, though, get on board with all the net zero nonsense in this bill. The bill is written generally, allowing the minister wide powers to completely stuff things up. I don’t see this as any different to the general stuffing-up the Albanese government is already doing. Giving it more ways to make mistakes seems like a bad idea. 

The bill has some good qualities. The economic resilience and security stream relates to sectors where Australia requires a degree of domestic capacity and resilience for domestic, economic or security reasons, and there’s an absence of private sector investment with that government support. The provisions around this section are quite extensive and seem to be a genuine attempt to provide for Australia’s sovereign industrial capacity—without using the word ‘sovereign’, of course! 

Let me give you an example of a project that fits the economic resilience and security rules like a glove and provides breadwinner, family friendly, secure jobs for tens of thousands of Australians. Capricorn Steel is a project to create an Australian steel industry using new, zero-emission steel plants located at Abbot Point near Townsville and Port Hedland in Western Australia. Boomerang ships would take beautiful Queensland coking coal around to Port Hedland in Western Australia, where it’ll be used with their iron ore to produce Australian steel. This will be the world’s highest-quality steel, produced at 10 to 15 per cent less than China—the cheapest quality steel in the world. 

From Port Hedland this steel can be exported to markets in the subcontinent—India and Europe. The development crescent of India, Pakistan, Bangladesh and Indonesia will become the world’s largest steel market over the next 20 years; Australia is perfectly placed to capitalise on that. Those ships will return to the Port of Gladstone carrying iron ore which will be combined with Australian coking coal to create a second steel park at Abbot Point. From there, Inland Rail can take this steel anywhere in Australia to help meet Australia’s steel needs—steel that is critical to net zero, housing, construction and our modern lifestyle, steel that is critical to Australia’s defence capability. Abbot Point, or the Port of Gladstone, is perfectly situated to export this steel to Asia, China and the United States. 

Development of a railway across the Top End to open up areas currently served by road as well as new port facilities and new high-efficiency shipping are all projects that satisfy the development criteria in this bill—plus a water pipeline, plus a communications link to open up Central Australia and northern Queensland, the Northern Territory and northern Western Australia. Capricorn Steel and Project Iron Boomerang will add $100 billion to Australia’s gross domestic product, provide 40,000 secure breadwinner jobs and provide $25 billion in government revenue every year. Capricorn Steel will be emission free, for those who believe this global warming nonsense. Every ton of steel produced in the zero-emission steel plants to be constructed at Port Hedland and Abbot Point will save two tonnes of carbon dioxide from steel produced elsewhere. That’s a reduction in carbon dioxide production of 88 million tonnes a year. 

There is no net zero without steel. Yet all the messaging coming from the government around this bill is nothing but net zero, which is nonsense. I get it: even net zero carpetbaggers are running out of interest in this failed net zero scam, so the government has to steal taxpayers’ money to keep net zero going. 

One Nation has no confidence this bill will achieve anything positive for Australia. If the government wants to move the provisions around economic resilience and security into a new bill, with Infrastructure Australia in charge, One Nation would be delighted to support those measures. 

We once produced things in this country — now, we’re buying them all from our greatest potential enemy. Without the capability to produce goods here in Australia through our own industry, we won’t have a military to defend our country.

I’ve long called for the Iron Boomerang project, which aims to use Australian resources here instead of shipping them to China and then buying their products back off them. Most importantly, to effectively defend our country, we must embrace Australia’s potential. Think about what we could achieve!

Transcript

I agree with Senator Van: Australia’s defence preparedness is poor, at best. It is true that the best way to keep Australia strong is to keep our transport and industrial base strong. Instead, successive Liberal and Labor governments have presided over the destruction of our manufacturing base and allowed our ports and the transport into those ports to atrophy.

One Nation proposes a comprehensive solution to this: starting with a railway from the Bowen Basin in the east of our country across to the Pilbara in the north-west, connecting to the existing network at the Port of Gladstone in Queensland and Pindar in Western Australia. This will create a national rail network to allow Australian Defence Forces to access and defend parts of our country we have never been able to access to stage a significant military operation. The railway, called Iron Boomerang, will enable an Australian steel industry to develop at Abbot Point near Townsville, returning to domestic production the most important elements of a defence industry—steel, aluminium, concrete and ceramics. It will allow an upgrade of the capacity of Townsville’s military docks to offer bespoke repairs for domestic and military vessels, including our AUKUS allies. Having a strong steel industry will open the possibility of Australian armour, transport and military rolling stock as well as a domestic strategic fleet, offering economic benefit to Townsville, Newcastle, Williamtown and Port Adelaide.

What would also help is to not forget that our greatest strength is our love of this beautiful country. That will make us strong. One Nation will not apologise for loving Australia, loving our flag, loving our language, loving our history and loving our culture. We are proud of our nation of Australia. We will proudly grow our manufacturing base to create wealth and security for all Australians.

In July 2022, I was successful in having the Senate conduct an inquiry into the ‘Iron Boomerang’ project. This project aims to build steel mills in Abbott Point Townsville and Port Headland, connecting iron ore from the west with coal from Queensland to manufacture Australian steel of superior quality at a more competitive price compared to other steel producers.

World leading steel producers are eager to construct these mills at their own expense, recognising the undeniable financial and quality advantages of the project. Yet, governments have stood in the way of approvals since the project was first raised in the 1980s.

Now for the first time, all relevant governments needed to approve the project are from the same party, removing the political obstacles that have hindered progress so far.

One Nation has been advocating for this project since 2016 and Minister Ayr’s responses to my inquiries today were encouraging. I appreciate the Minister’s comprehensive understanding of the project and wholeheartedly agree with the numerous benefits it offers.

I look forward to this project receiving approval.

Transcript

Senator ROBERTS: Thank you for appearing tonight. Recommendation 2 of the Rural and Regional Affairs and Transport Committee inquiry report into the project known as Iron Boomerang reads: The committee recommends the Australian Government commissions and publishes a scoping study on the establishment of a steel plant/s located in Northern Australia. This relates to the proposal for steel plants at Abbot Point near Townsville and Port Hedland in Western Australia with a railway line or ships being used to exchange iron ore and coal backwards and forwards to make the world’s highest quality steel prices that undercut China by at least 10 per cent. This project will generate hundreds of billions of dollars per year in steel and associated products, many fine by-products, and create tens of thousands of breadwinner jobs. The project proponents have advised they have the funding to build this project from leading infrastructure world funds already. This project does not need public money. The land at Abbot Point is already zoned for a steel mill. Minister, my question is, will you call this inquiry and ensure our future really is made in Australia?  

Senator Ayres: I’m advised that the government is considering its response to this inquiry. I can say further that of course iron ore is one of Australia’s largest commodity exports. We have a very capable mining sector, and we also have adjacent to our mining sector vast solar and wind reserves. The Future Made in Australia agenda is looking at value adding in iron and steel, across a range of our critical mineral categories. It offers very significant opportunities for investment in precisely the kind of industrial capability that you are referring to here. I don’t know anything about the actual proponents of these particular facilities, but in the broad, in metals processing Australia has a significant future comparative advantage. This government wants to make sure that we secure that comparative advantage and that investment, I’m sure.  

Senator ROBERTS: Minister, I’m not sure if you’re aware of it, but this project as it stands will significantly—I don’t believe it’s necessary to reduce carbon dioxide from human activity, but you do and the government does. This project as it stands, with the use of conventional rail, conventional ships, will dramatically reduce the carbon dioxide from human activity because there will be no empty backloading. There will be no oneway transport of coal or iron ore, which are currently exported in massive quantities from this country. Instead, they’ll just be shuffled across the country in a very limited transport regime and back load so that there will always be a load.  

Senator Ayres: Much broader than that is our advantage in solar and wind with 97 per cent of our trading partners, including our trading partners in energy and steel production. Think of markets in Korea and Japan. There are very significant opportunities for Australia in both economic development terms and also, as you point to, in emissions reductions terms, to make a significant contribution to the emissions reductions by our partners by producing onshore in a cleaner way than our trading partners do. This is a very significant national interest question for Australia, and the government is working hard to secure future investments in this area. 

I was successful in having the project known as Iron Boomerang referred to a Senate Inquiry. Iron Boomerang is a railway that is really a shopping cart on rails — bringing iron ore, rare earths and agricultural product from West Australia to North Queensland for easy export to markets around the world.

The iron ore will be combined with beautiful Queensland coal in a steel park in Queensland for domestic use, and for export to Asia and the Americas. The trains will then return to Western Australia loaded with coal, where another steel mill in the Pilbara will make steel for export to the subcontinent, the Middle East and Europe.

Estimates predict this project could add $200 billion (10%) to Australia’s GDP creating 50,000+ breadwinner jobs, while securing the nations’ future.

The Committee found in favour of the project and instructed Infrastructure Australia to contact the project sponsors to get started.

In today’s Senate Estimate session, Infrastructure Australia had the hide to say they ignored the request of the Senate Committee. As a result, this nation-building, jobs-rich project has not progressed. Watch this space!

The Senate has passed a One Nation motion establishing an inquiry into Project Iron Boomerang, an ambitious nation building proposal to link Queensland’s coal and Western Australia’s iron ore fields by rail line.

Despite having the world’s third largest reserves of metallurgical coal and the largest reserves of iron ore, Australia only accounts for 1% of world steel production.

Project Iron Boomerang seeks to fix this, linking the two steel ingredients by cross-country rail line and building steel-making plants at both ends. Senator Roberts said:

“Project Iron Boomerang is a visionary, nation building project.”

“Australia ships billions of tonnes of commodities overseas to places like China who use it to make steel which Australia buys back from them. Combining our natural resources for value-add manufacturing to make steel here in Australia is a no-brainer.”

“The business case shows a potential benefit to the economy of hundreds of billions of dollars, including $200 billion in annual steel production.”

“Iron Boomerang will bring transport, employment, water, power and internet to disadvantaged remote communities across the top end.”

“This inquiry will enable us to test the promising business case and assess whether Infrastructure Australia should consider Iron Boomerang a High Priority Infrastructure project.”

“The Senate is to be congratulated for passing this One Nation motion so the investigation of this project can begin. The potential benefits cannot be ignored and must be assessed.”

One Nation calls for an Inquiry into Project Iron Boomerang.

One Nation has submitted a motion to be voted on by the Senate today Monday to hold an inquiry into Project Iron Boomerang (PIB).

This visionary project will secure Australia’s manufacturing, employment and energy security for generations.

With 70,000 jobs during construction and 40,000 breadwinner jobs created once operational PIB is the jobs solution the Prime Minister is looking for.