Mr CLAYTON BARR (Cessnock) (17:00): I move:
That this House supports the Minns Labor Government’s $12 billion investment to establish a long-term pipeline of passenger train manufacturing in the Hunter that is expected to employ up to 780 workers in construction and 550 ongoing jobs.
During public interest debates I sometimes look at the topic and think, “Surely the Opposition cannot vote against this.” Today I again ponder that question. This is a fantastic announcement and a wonderful investment. It is a shot in the arm for manufacturing, Hunter workers, the Hunter economy and our capacity as a State to build the trains we need and that millions ride on every day. But I still ponder: Will the Liberal-Nationals Coalition, which has a history of sending such contracts offshore, find a way to vote against this? We will soon find out. As Matthew Johns once said, this announcement is “better than Lego”. It provides for the Hunter for the next 30 years. Some 550 families will have 550 secure, long-term jobs. Those workers will earn a wage that will allow them to put a roof over their head, put food on the table, pay their bills, raise a family and be incredible community servants.
I remember when I was a young fellow going to Maitland Marist Brothers, many moons ago. The school was all boys from years 7 to 10 but had a mix of boys and girls in years 11 and 12. In the lead-up to the end of year 10, our local train manufacturing companies, shipbuilding companies and steelworks companies, and even State government agencies like State Rail and energy providers, would publish opportunities to apply for apprenticeships. Every young fellow at Maitland Marist Brothers knew that if they were lucky enough to be chosen for an apprenticeship, they would have decades of work in good, secure jobs that paid well.
I am 55 years old, and all those people I went to school with are in the latter stages of their working life. If they were fortunate enough to get any apprenticeship at any of those companies, I hope they are prospering well in their chosen trade and supporting their family and community as I know they would have wished to. This announcement makes sure that we continue to offer such opportunities going forward. The Government will construct its own train manufacturing precinct. We will own the precinct and offer the opportunity to tender for work to build trains here in New South Wales for the people of New South Wales.
I will step away from my comments for a second and make a bold prediction that I hope does not come true: In the future, when the Liberal Party and The Nationals are in government, they will sell the precinct like they sell everything else. We will lose the capacity to go to open tender and have a competitive process because that State taxpayer-funded facility will no longer be able to choose across multiple tenders. That facility will be sold on to a single individual who will be the market-holder of opportunity. I hope that does not come true. But mark this day: On 4 August 2026 at 5.00 p.m., I make a prediction which I hope members opposite will be smart enough to not go forward with.
If we cast our minds back to August 2020, a Premier in New South Wales by the name of Berejiklian, if my memory serves me correctly, was at a press conference. She was asked about building trains in New South Wales and Australia instead of offshore. She was asked those questions for a few reasons. Some of those offshore trains did not fit our tracks, could not go through our tunnels, did not have the seating capacity of our old trains, had trouble braking or had door systems that did not work properly. The list went on and on. In addition, the contracted price for the new sets of trains, the intercity and the regional fleet; I will not start on light rail, was supposed to come in at about $3.5 billion. The cost had blown out to almost double the price, at $6.8 billion.
This State should have been aspiring to be the very best. It should have been able to do whatever we needed for our people and for our purpose. It should have been able to do that as wonderfully as we had in the past, with the expertise of so many of the lads that I went to school with. They had skills, passion and knowledge about how wide our tunnels were, how wide our train lines were, how long our stations were, and why we needed guards at the back of the train to save countless lives. But no, the contracts went offshore and the price and delivery timeline blew out. We had a Premier who did not aspire to do great things in New South Wales, who folded the cards and conceded. It was a shameful day. This motion is better than Lego. Get on board!
Mr CLAYTON BARR (Cessnock) (17:28): In reply: As no further Opposition members are seeking to contribute to the public interest debate, I see a white flag going up to say, “Yes, actually, we got it plenty wrong. Labor, you are doing what we wish we had the courage to do.” In his contribution the member for Davidson read out a report about problems in the past. When the Liberal-Nationals Government was in power it made the same mistakes but on steroids. The Liberals and The Nationals have learnt absolutely nothing. I appreciate the member for Davidson reminding us about how little they learnt and how silly they were. I say to him that we have a career for his 16-month-old son, who loves trains. He can go to Newcastle and build the trains. He will be in his zone if he loves trains that much. He can drive them or design them, build them and wire them up. He can do whatever he likes.
I thank the member for Upper Hunter because he made it through his entire contribution without actually taking a position. I appreciated that. I am surprised he could sit back down after his contribution because I thought the splinters would have been aplenty. The member asked about the timeline and for some extra details. Just to be clear, at a very private luncheon last week with the Newcastle business chamber and about 300 people and cameras and all that sort of stuff, the Premier said that we want a decision on the site, be it at Broadmeadow or Teralba, before the end of this year so that we can get work started and crack on with it. He said that very privately in front of 300 people and the entire business chamber of the Hunter. That is the starting point for our timeline.
I acknowledge the contribution of the member for Wallsend. The young lads she went to school with, most of the time it is young lads, had a similar journey to the young lads I went to school with in getting these good jobs. She reminded us that the Greiner and Fahey governments sold off the train manufacturing facility in her neck of the woods. She also completely owned previous contract mistakes made by a certain former Treasurer of this State. I also mention the member for Newcastle, who provided a long list of incredible manufacturing investments in the Hunter and, of course, a long list of disastrous overseas contracts. I commend the motion to the House. Get on board!