HOST, NICK RHEINBERGER: G'day Tim Ayres.

SENATOR TIM AYRES: G'day. Really good to be back on the show.

HOST: Why is local manufacturing of this kind important?

AYRES: Well, it's central to the Albanese Government's a Future Made in Australia agenda. And I just want to say to you and to your listeners how much this matters for Nowra in terms of the jobs that Jo Haylen talked about earlier today, in terms of the investment and the apprenticeships, that's central to our vision for a manufacturing future.

That's why when we were elected to government as the Albanese government, I was sent to work with Industry Minister Ed Husic to bring together the states and the territories to lift the local content in public transport manufacturing, trains and buses and ferries and trams.

And the reason, Nick, that I'm so passionate about that work, because it involves the state and the Commonwealth all working together, is that before I went into the Parliament, I was an official of the Manufacturing Workers Union and I spent a significant part of my life campaigning against the last NSW Government and Transport Minister Andrew Constance, who offshored all the train manufacturing and almost all the bus manufacturing offshore.

It cost thousands and thousands of trade jobs. Hundreds and hundreds of school leavers who missed out on apprenticeships, caused incalculable damage in the Hunter Valley and the Illawarra and Western Sydney, delivered trains and buses that came late, that had safety and quality defects, and it trashed regional economies. That's why we've worked so hard as the Albanese Government, with the Minns Government in particular, to bring local manufacturing of trains and buses back. That is why I'm so proud that the NSW Government's made that announcement today. It's going to make a big difference to Nowra.

HOST: Well, can you point to any specific things you have done to enable this to happen? I mean, have you given money to this company, who we'll speak to in just a moment? What have you done to enable it?

AYRES: Certainly, the Commonwealth Government, through the coordination facility that we have established through the broader Future Made in Australia and industry packages we have worked with. This is not being in there claiming credit. We have played our role and I congratulate the NSW Government for what they have done. It is an enormous achievement. We will have to continue to work together to roll out more work in rail manufacturing as Ed Husic as the Industry Minister, and his office of the National Rail Industry Coordination, which is all about smart public procurement of local content for local manufacturers and building trains here in Australia and building buses and ferries, trams and all of that public infrastructure here in Australia. That's what the Albanese Government's about. The contrast, as it just turns out, is that the character who offshored all of those jobs, cost thousands of Australians their jobs, now wants to be the next member for Gilmore. 

HOST: Alright, well how would. We're getting sort of bogged down.

AYRES: We're rebuilding manufacturing that he tore down.

HOST: Got it. We're getting bogged down in criticising the opposition rather than looking into the future. What, what do you think a factory like this would actually do for employment in a community like Nowra?

AYRES: Well, it'll deliver good quality trades jobs. It'll deliver dozens of apprenticeships because that's what comes with a big enterprise that employs tradespeople, but also for the manufacturing and trades economy around Nowra, so around the Shoalhaven and the Illawarra, every big investment that goes in like this means jobs for contractors, jobs for maintenance. It means more money's been spent in town, it's good for shops in town, it builds a community. Good jobs for school leavers, you know, who want to have a crack at a trades job. Builds pride, a sense of belonging and a sense of community.

These things matter so much, which is why I was, you know, you say look forwards, of course we are. That's what the Future Made in Australia, the biggest pro-manufacturing package in Australia's history is all about. But it does absolutely gall me that the bloke who tore all this down, trashed regional communities, didn't shed a tear for manufacturing workers jobs. That cold stone hearted job killer is now hunting for his own job in the same place that Chris Minns and Jo Haylen and the NSW Government are rebuilding Australian manufacturing. It's just intolerable, this irony that this bloke who's done so much damage wants to come back and do it again, but this time in Canberra.

HOST: Okay, look, just before we let you go today, we've also heard that Stephen Jones is retiring. We've got a lower house seat available. Is that something you would look to do to have a tilt at the lower house?

AYRES: Absolutely not. Today is all about Stephen Jones and his contribution. He's made an extraordinary contribution. A boy who grew up in the Illawarra got to represent this wonderful community in Canberra. He's done an incredible job for the country and for the Illawarra. I wish him, Brooke, and the family all the very best. He's a good friend and he's made an enormous contribution. The Labor party will work through its process to select a good local candidate who will make you know, will be up in front of the voters in a pretty short amount of time and I look forward to working with them hard to secure manufacturing jobs and to build Australia's future.

HOST: All right. Senator Tim Ayres, thanks for joining us today.

AYRES: Good on you, Nick.

END