The Coalition will vote against the government’s Future Made in Australia legislation this week, setting up a Senate showdown and potential amendments to better protect the environment and ensure public benefit flows from the new industrial push.
The Albanese government is now negotiating with cross benchers in the absence of bipartisan support. But it faces tough questions from the Greens on how the landmark public investments in critical industries will translate into more public benefit than the last mining boom.
More than $22 billion has already been earmarked for Future Made in Australia (FMiA) investments, with the biggest support to flow through production credits for green hydrogen and critical minerals processing industries.
Future Made in Australia bills will be debated in Parliament this week that would implement a framework for identifying and assessing additional sectors for public investment, while ensuring they generate community benefits.
The Coalition opposed the plan initially, but comments from the leader of the Opposition Peter Dutton last week that industry support was increasingly needed had opened the door to the legislation’s speedy passage through Parliament.
The party slammed that door shut on Tuesday, attacking FMiA as an inflation driver and a “plan for more government”.
“The Coalition will oppose this Bill,” an Opposition spokesperson said. “The more we hear about this plan, the more it does not stack up. This is a plan for pork barreling, not a strong economy.”
Treasurer Jim Chalmers unveiled the FMiA agenda in the May Budget as a response to increasingly interventionist governments around the world and uncertainty around geopolitics and net zero markets.
He wants to lock in a framework for government support now that can crowd in private investment in the emerging sectors. But the plan has been criticised as picking winners with a risk of devolving into protectionism.
“The biggest part of our plan is tax breaks,” Dr Chalmers said in question time on Tuesday. “And that’s deliberate because a Future Made in Australia is all about attracting private investment, not replacing it.”
With the Opposition ruling out supporting FMiA, the government is seeking support from the Greens and crossbenchers like independent Senator David Pocock.
Senator Pocock is in talks with the government, while the Greens has already indicated it has serious reservations about FMiA.
The party is concerned the policy could be used to support fossil fuel projects through the planned expansion of Export Finance Australia that is delivering some of the FMiA support.
The Greens are also understood to be seeking more assurances that the benefits of FMiA-backed sectors will flow to the public purse and communities the projects are in.
They are questioning whether the expansion of Export Finance Australia will enable further funding for supporting coal and gas projects and that Australia will not extract enough pubic return from a potential second resources boom.
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