Anthony Albanese renews pitch for National Reconstruction Fund

The PM has invoked a classic Australian treat he tries to get businesses on board with one of his biggest election promises.

Anthony Albanese has renewed his pitch for his centrepiece manufacturing policy by appealing to local food and drink makers as a parliamentary fight over the legislation brews.

Speaking at a food and beverage manufacturing dinner on Saturday night, the Prime Minister told guests their industry was at the heart of the government’s ambition for Australia to “make things here again”.

With the legislation to establish Labor’s proposed National Reconstruction Fund on the cusp of entering parliament, Mr Albanese used his speech to promote the multibillion-dollar co-investment vehicle.

“It’s about building a long-term safeguard against inflation and keeping your great products on the tables of Australian families and on the menus of Australian restaurants,” he said.

Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has renewed his pitch for his centrepiece manufacturing policy. Picture: NCA NewsWire / Gary Ramage

Mr Albanese declared he had been a “lifelong supporter” of local food manufacturing and recalled fond memories of a classic Australian-made treat.

“One of my happiest memories as a boy growing up in Camperdown is heading down to the corner of my street with mates to Weston’s biscuit factory – and getting freebies of Wagon Wheels which were imperfect,” he said.

“The sheer volume of Wagon Wheels that I ate in those days … means I’m sorry to say I’ve not had one for decades.”

“But I am comforted by the fact that all these years later, Wagon Wheels are still made in Australia.”

Mr Albanese said the National Reconstruction Fund would make $1bn available for advanced manufacturing and set aside $500m to invest in agriculture, forestry, fisheries, food and fibre.

The Albanese government has committed $15bn to set up the fund, which is designed to reinvigorate local manufacturing and scale back Australia’s dependence on supply chains.

The PM has invoked a classic Australian treat he tries to get businesses on board with one of his biggest election promises.

Modelled on the Clean Energy Finance Corporation, the proposed fund would co-invest across seven priority areas including renewables, medical science, transport and defence capabilities.

But Labor is expected to face an uphill battle to legislate the fund, with The Greens and crossbench MPs reportedly considering a mutiny unless the government agrees to ban the fund from financing fossil fuel projects.

Labor is facing trouble in the Senate on the National Reconstruction Fund and other contentious environmental and industrial relations reforms.

Labor does not hold a majority in the upper house, meaning it needs to rely on the support of either the Coalition or the Greens and two crossbenchers to pass legislation.

The government last week suffered its first major defeat in parliament after senators formed an unlikely bloc to overturn Labor’s new superannuation regulations in the upper house.

After teaming up with the Coalition, the Greens warned the Albanese government not to take the left-wing party’s support for granted.