Media conference with Parramatta MP Dr Andrew Charlton, Rydalmere

ASSISTANT MINISTER TIM AYRES: Today has been a terrific opportunity to talk to the management and workers at Rheem’s Rydalmere facility. This place makes hot water systems for the Australian market. It’s been a water heater manufacturer for 85 years, and it’s employed tens of thousands of Australians in Rydalmere and Waterloo. It’s a key cornerstone of Sydney’s manufacturing capability.

We’re hear to listen, really. We’re hear to learn from Rheem’s management and Rheem’s workforce. This is an industry that is shaped by the big challenges of climate and emissions reduction. Water heaters make up about 25 per cent of the average household’s energy use. And so the web of subsidies and regulation that shapes consumption means that consumers often have a difficult choice between low quality imports and high quality Australian manufactured product. And we’re here to learn more from the company as we develop our approach to building a strategy to support Australian manufacturing. Anthony Albanese came to government with the biggest industry policy offering in Australian history to rebuild Australian manufacturing. And we’re working through implementing that. But we’re also making sure that on the details that matter for the future of industries like this that we’re shaping the future in the interests of reducing emissions, lower household bills and more Australian manufacturing.

ANDREW CHARLTON: Thanks very much, and it’s great to have the Assistant Minister for Trade and Manufacturing, Tim Ayres, here in Parramatta and to be able to have a conversation with the management and workers and unions at Rheem. Rheem is a great Australian company. My dad worked here in the 70s and 80s, and it’s always been one of the iconic Parramatta manufacturing companies.

Three messages today: first of all, Parramatta has always been a manufacturing powerhouse, and it’s companies like Rheem that are driving the manufacturing future direction of this area. Secondly, it’s great to have a government that finally backs Australian manufacturing and is committed to the future of Australian manufacturing. And, third, that future is all about innovation and making sure that local manufacturing companies face into the big challenges we have. And that's been the conversation today - how do Australian manufacturers like Rheem help with the big transition to energy efficiency, climate change and innovation.So some terrific messages here today from the managers and workers at Rheem, a company that is innovating and preparing for many more decades of manufacturing right here in Parramatta. Thank you.

JOURNALIST: A question for the Ministers: this factory is moving some jobs offshore to Vietnam. The question is: why are you visiting this particular factory that is making changes to who it employs?

ASSISTANT MINISTER AYRES: Well, I’m aware that the company has got some business plan changes that mean that there will be some changes that will have an impact on employment. I want to learn more about what their plans are. But I also want to learn more about what is it that’s going to put this industry in the right position for the future. What are the changes that need to be made both in terms of manufacturing policy for Australia but also the web of regulatory change that impacts on the sale of water heaters. Because there are lower quality imports that are coming into the Australian market and there is a high quality Australian product made for Australian conditions.There are thousands of people employed across the country, here at Rheem in Rydalmere and other water heater manufacturers around the country whose jobs rely on the Australian government thinking carefully about these questions. So today is about listening, about learning, about meeting with the workforce here well. I’m very confident that Rheem will work through these issues with their trade unions, with the AMWU, and that these issues will be worked through. We’ve got a commitment as a government, though, to make sure that we’re rebuilding Australian manufacturing. Six per cent of GDP; that’s where Australian manufacturing is at today. That’s unsustainable. We need to rebuild Australian manufacturing for a stronger future.

JOURNALIST: So what are you doing to make manufacturing jobs more competitive in Australia so we don’t lose some of these jobs offshore?

ASSISTANT MINISTER AYRES: So the first thing is there is a $15 billion manufacturing fund, the National Reconstruction Fund. It is the biggest industry policy offering in Australian history. Secondly, we’re going to work on the energy problems that are confronting Australian industry. We’re going to drive down the cost of energy by introducing more low cost renewables and storage into the Australian system. And the Powering the Nation Fund, $20 billion directed towards fixing up our transmission grid, putting the capacity for more storage, more renewables into the system is the key reform that is going to push down the price of electricity for households but also for business and make Australian manufacturing businesses more competitive.

JOURNALIST: And just to you, Andrew, your dad used to work here, so there’s a personal connection. Is working with Rheem and the workers here going to be a big focus for you going forward?

ANDREW CHARLTON: Absolutely. You know, I said right through the election campaign that making sure that the future of Parramatta has manufacturing at the heart of the industrial plan is really important. We’ve been working with a number of businesses across the electorate. As Tim said, the government more broadly has a massive industrial policy which is very exciting. And my job as the member for Parramatta is to make sure that local businesses are linked into that policy, have the best chance of accessing that policy and the role region’s manufacturing future is as bright as its storied history has been.

JOURNALIST: Another question for you Minister Ayres, do you think Australia should sign up for a global pledge to reduce methane emissions? And if yes, why?

ASSISTANT MINISTER AYRES: Well, I’m the Assistant Minister for Trade and Manufacturing. There is a cabinet discussion that will be ongoing at the moment. I don’t intend to foreshadow that. I’m aware that the Minister for Agriculture spoke about these issues in some detail on your network this morning, and I’d lean towards his explanation of the government’s position and development of the position before I shoot my mouth off here today.

ENDS