NEIL WANG, FOTON MOBILITY DISTRIBUTION: Good morning everyone. Thanks to Tim, John and also Federal Member Fiona for coming today to work with us to announce all the jobs we created for the Nowra community. We're very happy to announce that in the last month, we received more than 500 applications for the 15 jobs we put on the market, and we secured seven of them. We have another eight jobs, which we will do the interviews tomorrow for the Nowra interim bus factory. And the next step is—if you missed out on the first opportunity, don't be disappointed because more jobs will be available very soon. Thank you.
FIONA PHILLIPS, MP: Thank you. Fiona Phillips, Federal Member for Gilmore. And look, I am so excited to be here today to get an update on this exciting project, bringing important local jobs here to Nowra and our region. I think what we've heard is literally hundreds of job applications for the many jobs that are involved here. So we know that local jobs are really important to people. And it's not just the local jobs, it's the supply as well as products that will come into this factory, the local training opportunities. And why wouldn't people want to work here in our beautiful region? So I really want to thank Foton, the Minister for Transport who’s here today, because we want to invest in Nowra. And that's what the New South Wales Government is doing, backed in by the Albanese Labor government. It's great to have Senator Ayres here, the Assistant Minister for Trade and for Future Made in Australia as well. I am so excited, as someone that's grown up here locally, to be able to—you know, we've seen so many businesses, under the previous Liberal government, sort of go away, but this is one that's actually starting here, and it's going to grow local jobs. So that is so important for my community: it provides incomes for families, it means more kids in our local schools, and it's just a really good success story.
JOHN GRAHAM, NSW MINISTER FOR TRANSPORT: John Graham, Minister for Transport. It's a real delight to be here this morning to have a look around at what will be a future manufacturing site for our state. This is a great project—we're talking here about 6000 square meters, about more than 100 jobs when this is up and fully operating. But that work starts very, very soon, at the end of next month, with training starting before that. So this is a big moment for this project, as it starts to roll out jobs in Nowra, with buses being manufactured here in New South Wales, which is all part of the plan to grow that capacity over time in New South Wales. As you've heard, the local reaction has been incredible. More than 525 people applying just for these 15 jobs. It really shows that there are enthusiastic workers, locals ready to be trained and take part in this big opportunity as it starts to roll out. There have been questions about this project—I've had to answer many questions in Parliament about this project, and I'm here to say we are pressing ahead. We're determined that these local jobs, these local opportunities, will happen. This is very important to the future of bus manufacturing in New South Wales. It is part of a broader plan. As we replace up to 8000 buses over the coming years, we want to see local capacity being built up in New South Wales to be able to do that. So it's a bigger plan over time, but great to be here at the start to see what will unfold very, very shortly here in Nowra.
AYRES: Tim Ayres, I'm the Assistant Minister for Trade and Assistant Minister for Future Made in Australia. This is what Future Made in Australia is about opening new factories, new manufacturing facilities in regional New South Wales and regional Australia. These are the kind of jobs that make a difference in country towns, that change the economic face of a place like Nowra and a seat like Gilmore. High quality jobs. I was very pleased to hear more than 500 applications for the jobs that have already been advertised. That's a vote of confidence from the people of Nowra and the surrounding districts in these jobs and what these jobs mean for the area. That's what Future Made in Australia is about: good quality, blue collar and engineering jobs. So the reaction from people who live in Nowra has been really strong and really positive. It's interesting that the reaction from the bloke who wants to be the member for Gilmore has been so negative, has been so carping, and has been so nitpicking in trying to talk Nowra’s capacity and the South Coast’s capacity down. The great irony, of course, is that the reason that the New South Wales Government is starting from the standpoint of bus assembly, not 100% bus manufacturing here, and moving through to greater and greater levels of local content, is because the previous New South Wales Liberal government trashed bus manufacturing in New South Wales and destroyed train manufacturing in New South Wales, costing thousands and thousands of jobs and hundreds and hundreds of young school leavers who missed out on apprenticeships and the bloke who led the charge on preferring manufacturing jobs in Korea and India and Spain was none other than Mr. Constance, who now is focused on the one job that has only ever mattered to him, and that's his own job in Parliament. He didn't shed a tear for blue collar workers who lost their jobs in regional New South Wales, but he's very focused on his own job. His impact on regional blue-collar jobs has been absolutely lethal. He is a stone-cold job killer. That is his record, and now he wants the same people in Nowra who will benefit from this piece of economic development—he expects people to grant him another go at parliamentary life. We actually need to focus on what is in the interests of regional Australia, what is in the national interest of developing Australia's manufacturing capability, and investments like this; in buses and investments in local train manufacturing, are a key part of the Albanese government's Future Made in Australia agenda, and we're very pleased to back this project, and we're very pleased to work with the New South Wales government to continue to lift the level of local content in in state government projects, in renewable energy projects where we will deliver 100% Australian structural steel in those projects. We have the biggest pro-manufacturing package of any Australian government in our history. We're going to rebuild local manufacturing, and we're going to rebuild it on the south coast of New South Wales. Thanks very much.
JOURNALIST:
You touched on that there, Mr Ayres—are we on track for that 2027, 50% local content? How are we making that transition? If we can make that transition, why aren’t we just initially starting with 50%?
AYRES: I’ll let John answer that question.
GRAHAM: Look we're certainly on track for the commitments we made at the election, and that's really to see content built up over time, but it does take time. These are big projects, big production lines. The magic here is going to be establishing the pipeline. We're looking at that for trains. We're looking at that for buses. And if the state does what other jurisdictions have been able to do; use that pipeline to generate local jobs, this is absolutely possible, and we're certainly on track.
JOURNALIST: You mentioned you have had to answer questions in parliament on this project. Can you elaborate?
GRAHAM: I've answered many questions about some of these projects, including this project, criticism of this project. That's why I'm here; to have a look for myself and to say this: we're determined to press ahead. We want these local jobs here. Of course, it starts slow. Of course it starts small. This is very, very important for—
JOURNALIST: What kind of criticism? In relation to what?
GRAHAM: Well you should ask the people who are critical of this project. I'm not one of them. I'm here to look for myself. We are making plans to be able to build buses here in New South Wales, and that capacity takes a little bit of time to build, but it's very, very important.
JOURNALIST: At the moment a large amount of lithium is coming out of China, and concerns around the batteries being used, potentially with links to Xinjiang’s forced labor camps. What about your response to that? Is that where some of the criticism might have been coming from?
GRAHAM: Look, there certainly have been questions, and those questions, of course, we’ll take seriously, but we're not going to stop production here in Nowra and I want to make that clear.
JOURNALIST: Today, the anti-slavery commissioner is reviewing the procurement contract that the government has. And while the anti-slavery commission might not have a lot of strength to, you know, rip the procurement up, is your government looking as well and working with the slavery commissioner to see whether the batteries are something that Australia should have links with?
GRAHAM: Yeah. Look, I think any jurisdiction has got to look at these issues, and it's something we take very seriously in New South Wales, but the calls to stop this project before it even gets off the ground, I reject. We need these local jobs here, and we're going to press ahead. Of course, we'll work carefully through those issues as other jurisdictions around the world are.
JOURNALIST: One of the initial challenges was the infrastructure around charging stations. Is that something that you’ve been working with the council on?
GRAHAM: There's many, many challenges—those charging infrastructure issues are one of them. The work skill workforce is another, and it's great to see what the local reactions have been, that's very promising. That gives you hope about the future of a facility like this. There are planning issues to sort through. Some of those are still being sorted through for this site, where we are now. These are the steps that have to be taken. That's why it's not easy to get a project like this off the ground. The trouble is, it's very easy to kill it, and that's what we've seen in the past, and that's why we're determined to use our pipeline here in New South Wales of transport infrastructure that we're going to have in the future, to be able to build local capacity and retain it.
JOURNALIST: The industry is definitely growing, and Australia is, you know, getting more and more and more electric batteries for a range of things, solar panels and bikes and scooters. Is the procurement regulation strong enough, in your opinion?
GRAHAM: That's something that I won't rush to make a judgment on. We do have strong protections here in New South Wales, and strong national protections. But we're looking carefully to see if they need to be strengthened over time. This is a new area of the law, and it wouldn't be surprising that we've got to work through it to make sure that our protections are as strong as they should be. Those are serious issues. But what we won't do is stop this project dead before it even starts.
JOURNALIST: The majority of parts are currently coming from overseas, where exactly are they coming from?
WANG: So our parts are from international markets, from Japan, China, Europe. All the parts from global suppliers. But the good thing for Nowra is—in the last couple of months—we already identified some small businesses in Nowra that can build the parts we need for the buses in the future.
JOURNALIST: Are you surprised with the response? 525 is incredible considering it was just for 15 positions.
WANG: I’m very surprised. Because the support we get from the community of Nowra is really helping us. I think another thing is we said clearly in the job ads that we will provide training for everyone through our TAFE program. That's why we got a lot of applications and thanks to the Nowra community for supporting us on this project, and also the Government and the Minister.
JOURNALIST: Neil, I'm sorry to harp on, but I'm wondering what you think about the CATL batteries. Are you concerned about their links to forced labor?
WANG: Look, I can't say much, you know, but what I can say is—I've been to China, I've been to the CATL factory with my team, with my clients. We saw everything with our own eyes—
JOURNALIST: To the Xinjiang region?
WANG: No, not the Xinjiang region. Because we don't make the CATL, I can't say anything further. But from what I know is my battery is made in a Shanghai factory, right? That's all I can worry about. I can't trace everything all to the beginning, to where they take up the dirt, right? But what I can see is we have very tight anti-slavery requirements in our business, and we guarantee every single procurement meets our procurement requirements. We’ve been there with our other clients on the trucks too, and we ticked every single box.
JOURNALIST: I know we’re kind of just starting the process now, but how many buses are you hoping to get out at about the streets by 2026?
WANG: From next month, our bus will start to arrive. We will spend around 330 hours on every single bus. We hope to pump out 25 buses for the West Sydney airport run in two months. Then every month we'll build at least five buses. And you see, with 15 jobs, this is what we can do. If we have more orders, certainly we can offer more jobs to the remaining 400 something applications in Nowra.
JOURNALIST: How's your development application going?
WANG: It's happening, but the challenge, right—life is full of challenges. My job is to solve all the challenges, right? So it's challenge. But the good thing is, for Nowra, they have a lot of warehouses available. So if I cannot build this one in time, we will find another warehouse to build it. For example, for the interim, we already got a warehouse around the corner right which be able to pack 20 buses and work three buses in the in the shed. But that will help us to start the project.
JOURNALIST: A question, just if you don't mind. Just give me a bit of an update about the rail, tram and bus union negotiations—there’s still a few months until the ban has to be lifted, but how’s that going?
GRAHAM: Discussions are going well, the positions are still apart, so I don't want to promise that this will be solved immediately, there have been good discussions convened in the Fair Work Commission, and there's been quite a number of those. Each week, the parties are meeting to sort through the issues at the heart of this. I know it's been disruptive. I know there's been a big impact on people relying on the train services, so that's something that we're very apologetic for, but the government needs to settle fair paying conditions here for rail workers, but we've also got to settle something that is fair to other workers as well. We've got to be able to look nurses in the eye and say to them: what's settled here is fair, not just for rail workers, but for other workers as well.
JOURNALIST: I appreciate that the 1st of July is quite a way still. But are you confident that an agreement can be reached before?
GRAHAM: Well, there's not agreement till there's an agreement. So I won't predict the future, but discussions are going well. We're really grateful for the help of the Fair Work Commission and the fact that there's been a pause in the disruption. It really was very disruptive. This has given us clear air to have those discussions. That's good news, but we’re still yet to land a deal.
JOURNALIST: I just have one more for Fiona. Arthur Rorris and South Coast Labor Council, and a few teachers and lecturers are meeting at Shoalhaven campus today, mostly to discuss vocational training, with the whole situation that's going on in UAW. Is that something that Labor is committed to; ensuring that regional jobs in the main UOW Shoalhaven campus?
PHILLIPS: Yeah, so look, the University of Wollongong Shoalhaven campus and also the Eurobodalla campus in Batemans Bay are absolutely vital. It's somewhere that I worked for over a decade before I came into Parliament as well. I think what we've seen there is huge opportunities that have come into our region, and I see that continuing in terms of a growing medical facility, we've got more Commonwealth Supported places in rural, end to end medical training, which is going to churn out more local doctors that are more likely to stay in our region, so I see that as really positive for our area.
JOURNALIST: You went to the Dux manufacturing facility and basically, they're just unimpressed with government subsidies. They're basically claiming that these subsidies are bringing lots of overseas products to the market, which I understand, obviously competition is maybe not such a great thing for them, but they're really worried about the safety around these products in people's homes. Tell me your reaction to the backlash from these government subsidies?
AYRES: Well, I've met with workers at Dux. I've met with the management of Dux and Rheem for years and years, talking about these challenges for these important Australian manufacturers. They employ hundreds of people here in the regional Southern Highlands, but also in the heart of Sydney at Parramatta at the Rheem facility as well. Australian water pump water heaters are efficient, high quality, and create lower costs for households and contribute to Australia's emissions reduction goals. It's really important that we have high quality water heaters for the Australian market. The subsidies that the companies are about, of course, are mostly state government subsidies that are engaged as the states try and support consumers through cost-of-living challenges and also to meet their own emissions targets. It's a good thing that there's subsidies for consumers. What we're committing to is to work closely with the states and territories to make sure that we can do everything to lift the level of Australian manufacturing content in the water heaters that are going into consumers homes. It's actually really important from a quality and safety perspective that the compliance regime around the water heaters is very, very strong. It's no good buying a low cost overseas water heater that actually ends up switching across to electricity straight away and undermining the household's objectives and the state government's objectives in reducing electricity use. So we're absolutely 100% behind the manufacturers. We are going to continue to work with them and bring the states and territories into the conversation, not to blame the states and territories, not to point fingers at each other, but to try and find solutions, that mean putting Australian hot water heaters at the front of the queue when households are making those decisions.
JOURNALIST: We’re calling for a minimum standard, which I understand the framework for that is currently underway. Something should come of that relatively soon. Is there a specific timeline exactly for that?
AYRES: Well, if we're successful in the election at a second term, that timeline will be in weeks and months, not in years. We are determined to press very hard with this question. There's really two levers that we can pull. One is to support the states and encourage the states to have tougher compliance mechanisms to make sure that all water heaters are high quality and deliver the services that households require. And secondly, to look where we can lift local content requirements, to put Australian water heater manufacturers at the front of the queue
JOURNALIST: That’s part of what Dux was saying; if 80% was local content, offer an 80% subsidy. Is that something that would be considered?
AYRES: I've been to Dux’s facility, and I've seen the examples that they have there in the factory of cheap imported water heaters that fail the quality standards in Australia, and how that undermines the objective that households have when they buy a heat pump water heater, which is to lower cost and lower emissions. So every mechanism that we can work with the states and territories, where they’re prepared to open up, and in fact, we've been engaged in a pretty thorough way with the states and territories to do that work already. But I'm absolutely 100% behind facilities like this. These water heater manufacturers have invested in research and development in Australia. They've invested for decades in skills and training and good jobs in places like Moss Vale and Parramatta. The Albanese government is for local manufacturing. We have the biggest pro manufacturing package in Australian history. We’re lifting local content requirements all across the economy to ensure it's Australian structural steel used, whether it's in wind towers or local household water heaters. We're determined to press on with this agenda. There's only one party that's approaching this election with any level of seriousness about local manufacturing.
