I begin by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we meet and I pay my respects to their elders past, present and emerging.
I'm delighted be back in Newcastle.
This is a beautiful part of our country, it's also a community that can teach us so much about responding to challenges and seizing opportunities.
Newcastle and the Hunter tell a great Australian story of resilience and reconstruction.
A reminder that even as we grapple with the urgent challenges of the present, we must always be looking to anticipate and shape the future.
And proof that while the forces of economic change are inevitable and unavoidable, what happens next is up to us.
More than a century ago, the opening of the steelworks brought new prosperity to this region and built new prosperity for our nation.
There are over 10,000 tonnes of Newcastle steel in the Sydney Harbour Bridge.
Newcastle steel helped arm and defend Australia in the Second World War.
And every day in Canberra, the Australian flag above Parliament House flies on a mast made of Newcastle steel.
When production peaked here in the early 1980s, the site employed over 11,000 people.
Then, in 1997, BHP announced it would be closing the steelworks.
And back then, there were plenty of people ready to write Newcastle off.
Yet anyone who witnessed what the Knights produced that September, saw a sign of things to come.
Proof that you should never write off Novocastrians.
Because even when the furnaces at the steelworks went cold, the spark of creativity and innovation in Newcastle and the Hunter was still there, firing this community's reinvention and renewal.
The workers and businesses in this great surf-loving town didn't just let the wave of change wash over them.
You didn't wait out the back, hoping something would turn up.
You picked your moment, you took your chance.
You and your community understood that the skills and determination and co-operation which had made the Hunter an economic powerhouse in the 20th Century could drive its growth and transformation into the 21st Century.
We can see the dividend of that approach, all around us.
A hard-working, dynamic, diversifying and innovative local economy.
The home of good jobs, in growing industries.
A hub of new skills, new technologies, new energy and new ideas.
The University of Newcastle has made such an important contribution to all of that success.
In my speech on election night, I spoke about the historic mission that drives Labor Governments. Opening the doors of opportunity and widening them.
Education, from the early years, to school, TAFE and university is and always will be absolutely fundamental to that.
And for 50 years, the University of Newcastle has led the nation in opening its doors.
The fee-free enabling courses offered here represent an alternative pathway to higher education.
A foot in the door for students who did not obtain the qualification for direct entry.
They help people who otherwise wouldn't have the chance to go to uni, train for something they're passionate about while also getting a grounding in writing and research and the general career skills that higher education offers.
An extraordinary 70,000 people have taken up the offer.
That's not a national figure, 70,000 people here in the Hunter.
In the last 10 years alone, nearly one in five students who graduated from the University of Newcastle entered via these enabling courses.
Because when Australians are given a chance to better themselves - they take it and they make the most of it.
Our fee-free TAFE places speak to that.
We made 180,000 available at the beginning of 2023 and by the end of the year over 300,000 people had enrolled.
More than a third of those Australians seeking a new qualification were living in the regions.
Wherever institutions and employers and governments invest in our people and their potential that investment delivers a profound return: for the individual, for our workforce, for our national productivity and prosperity.
We are entering a time when 9 out of every 10 new jobs will require either a university degree or a TAFE qualification and I see the University of Newcastle's commitment to equity and excellence as a model that other universities around Australia should be looking to embrace and emulate.
Education is central to creating opportunity, it's also fundamental to our Government's vision for a future made in Australia.
Education and skills are about preparing our workforce to compete and lead and succeed in a global economy being redefined by decarbonisation and digital technology.
New skills build new strengths for our economy and they create new opportunities for our people.
They give Australians the confidence and capacity to aspire to a better life for themselves and their families.
Because when we talk about a future made in Australia, we want it made the Australian way.
Not entering a race to the bottom on pay and conditions but driving a new generation of good jobs and fair wages in safe workplaces.
Highly-skilled workers, making high-value products.
That's the economic high road and it runs right through the Hunter.
Fifty years ago, the Liddell Power Station was brand new - and it was the most powerful generating station in Australia.
Today, the future of that site lies in renewable energy.
It's a snapshot of the economic and energy transformation underway in Australia, particularly in regional Australia.
A journey that every advanced economy has embarked on.
And a race that Australia can win.
Every nation needs to decarbonise and electrify.
And no nation is better placed than Australia to achieve this transition here at home and power it in the world.
We are home to every metal and critical mineral essential to net zero.
We are already the world's largest supplier of lithium, the fourth largest of cobalt, and the third largest of rare earths.
We have a workforce skilled in safe extraction.
And we own a proven track record as a reliable producer and exporter of energy and resources.
So much of the history of the Hunter speaks proudly to that.
But I don't want extraction to be the limit of our ambitions.
I don't want us to spend another generation as the last link in the global supply chain.
I want to see more Australian workers and Australians firms adding value here.
I want to see more Australian research incorporating Australian resources into technology made here in Australia.
Like at MCi, where they are using technology developed at the University of Newcastle to transform captured carbon dioxide emissions into carbonate rock that can be used in building materials.
Or 3ME Technology, which is working to electrify heavy vehicles used in mining, replacing diesel engines with batteries.
As well as developing an electric version of the iconic Bushmaster vehicle, in partnership with the Australian Defence Force.
Reliable and affordable clean energy, from solar to green hydrogen to offshore wind can power a new generation of advanced manufacturing and heavy industry, in our suburbs and our regional centres.
In defence manufacturing, in the transport sector.
In cement, ammonia, green steel and green aluminium.
And of course if we can get this right, it's not a closed loop.
We can be an exporter of clean energy technology and clean energy itself.
Helping our neighbours reduce their emissions and bolster their energy security.
There is a huge prize on offer here, across every sector of our economy and in every market in our region.
That's why I talk about Australia as a renewable energy superpower, because that's the truly global scale of the opportunity.
Those are the stakes. That's the path so many countries are trying to find for themselves.
And Government has to be a partner in this, not just an observer.
You can see that in the unprecedented investments the United States and the EU and Japan and Korea are making in their industrial bases.
We don't have to go dollar-for-dollar in our spending.
But we can go toe-to-toe on the quality and impact of our policies.
Our new Net Zero Economy Authority will be part of that.
Working with business and industry in the Hunter, so they can invest in reducing their emissions.
And co-ordinating with local government, Business Hunter and local workers, planning for new jobs in a stronger and more diverse local economy.
In all of this, we must be prepared to think big.
Australia may be home to only 0.3 per cent of the world's population but we produce over 1 per cent of global GDP.
We don't just punch above our weight, we pack a punch.
We are the 13th biggest economy in the world.
And in so many areas that matter, we can keep growing.
By pursuing greater diversity in who we trade with and what we trade.
By driving better co-operation in our Federation and healthier competition in our economy.
And by unlocking the productivity dividend of everything from new technologies, to a reformed NDIS to continuing progress on equality for women.
This is a task that traverses far more than energy policy, or industry policy.
This is a whole-of-nation opportunity and it demands a whole-of-economy approach.
It all has to fit together, it all has to pull in the same direction.
Skills and training and higher education, of course.
But also that network of support for research and development, getting access to capital for start-ups and innovators.
Making it easier for Australian breakthroughs to be commercialised.
And boosting productivity across the board by helping Australian companies, big and small, new and old, adapt to digital technology and build it into their business model.
That's what our National Reconstruction Fund is about, making those strategic investments, in everything from food and beverage manufacturing to agriculture, fisheries and forestry.
But our task as a Government and our test as a nation, goes beyond investing in firms and institutions.
We need to increase housing supply, particularly in growth corridors and close to public transport so that the essential workforce of our future, particularly in health and the caring economy, can afford to live in the communities they serve.
Continuing action on closing the gender pay gap, increasing economic participation and promoting equality for women in every facet of Australian life.
Because the fastest and most enduring way to boost productivity and grow our economy, is to invest in gender equality.
It means building the infrastructure to connect communities and promote economic development.
Which is why we are funding the business case for high speed rail from Sydney to Newcastle, a truly transformative project.
By the end of this year we will have the proposed alignment, station locations, train types, costs and construction timeframes, as well as a better understanding of the immense economic potential.
We're also funding the M1 extension to Raymond Terrace and Heatherbrae, the missing piece of the Pacific Highway.
This project will reduce traffic, it will improve road safety, it will create local jobs.
And it will lift national productivity, making it easier to move freight to and from this vital port.
The work of nation-building includes digital infrastructure too.
The internet has made it possible for a start-up or a family business in a country town to advertise their product to our region, to trade in the world's biggest marketplace.
It's made telehealth a reality and made it easier for to get medical advice or mental health support, without driving for hours both ways.
It has given young people in some of the most remote parts of our country unprecedented access to new knowledge and opportunities.
Fast, reliable internet is not a luxury, it's essential for our future growth.
So is injecting more competition into our economy.
Competition is good for markets and customers, it delivers better value products and a broader choice of them.
Competition is good for farmers and producers, it makes sure they get a fair deal.
It's good for small and medium businesses by enabling them to compete on quality not just volume.
It's good for workers and managers because it rewards talent and effort and makes it easier for people to pursue new opportunities.
And it's good for our economy, because competition fosters new ideas, new sources of growth and new drivers of productivity.
We've taken action on all these fronts.
But clearly there is an opportunity for us to do more and to do it in a more comprehensive and consolidated way.
And that's going to be a key priority for our Government in the year ahead.
Across all this work to strengthen the future prosperity of our nation, we remain focused on providing greater economic security for our people.
Because that's the starting point for everything else Australians want to achieve.
That's the foundation that all aspiration is built on.
Unless you have a sense of financial security here and now, you can hardly allow yourself to think about the future, let alone plan or save for it.
This is why our Government's number one priority is helping Australians with their cost of living, in every way we can.
It's why we made the responsible decisions to deliver a Budget surplus, the first in 15 years.
Building a buffer against future uncertainty.
Putting downward pressure on inflation.
And making it possible for us to provide support for Australians under financial stress.
Cheaper child care. Cheaper medicines.
Energy bill relief for 5 million households and 1 million small businesses.
The biggest increase in rent assistance in 30 years.
The biggest investment in bulk-billing in 40 years.
Opening 58 new Medicare Urgent Care Clinics, including one in Cessnock and another down the road at Lake Haven.
And saving the much-loved GP Access After Hours service across five clinics in the Hunter.
All of this support carefully designed to ease the pressures on people, without adding to pressure on inflation.
And it was very encouraging to see the inflation rate fall to 4.1 per cent.
The job isn't done, but we are winning the battle.
And while we will keep working to get costs down for families, we're working to get wages up.
Now growing at their fastest rate in almost 15 years and with two consecutive quarters of real wages growth.
We want people to earn more and we want people to keep more of what they earn.
That's why we're delivering a tax cut for all 13.6 million Australian taxpayers, not just some.
From the 1st of July, across the Hunter and Central Coast, 428,000 locals will be getting a tax cut.
And 85 per cent of those workers will be getting a bigger tax cut than they would have under the Morrison Government's plan.
For people in Newcastle, it's an average of more than $1600 a year, back in their pocket.
Our Government's tax cuts are aimed fairly and squarely at middle Australia and they deliver a benefit for Australians right and up down the income scale.
Better for the regions.
Better for working women.
Better for carers and nurses and truckies and tradies and teachers.
And just like cheaper child care, this is cost-of-living relief and economic reform.
Because our tax cuts represent a real improvement in the take home pay of people on modest incomes and Australians working part time.
A genuine incentive for parents with young children to work an extra day, or retail workers to put their hand up for another shift.
Boosting workforce participation, across our country and rebuilding the link between hard work and fair reward.
I don't know how many of you put yourselves through all three episodes of Nemesis on the ABC over the last few Mondays.
But one of the things that really stuck with me watching the senior Coalition ministers and Prime Ministers look back on those years was there virtually no discussion of policy and no mention of people.
Just a decade of rolling animosity, an entire government consumed by dysfunction and division.
A Coalition stuck in the past and set on dragging the rest of Australia back there to keep them company.
And if that's all you've got, if all you ever do is get angry about change, or try and make people afraid of it, you render yourself incapable of shaping it.
There are obviously a lot of reasons I'm glad we won the last election.
But one that drives me and my colleagues, every day, is the belief that this is the decisive decade for Australia.
This is the time when we have to get right, the moment that matters.
Yes there are big challenges.
This is the biggest and best chance our country will get.
To harness the power of global economic change and put it to work for our people.
Creating jobs and lifting living standards.
Converting our natural resources into national strengths.
And ensuring that here on the doorstep of the fastest growing region in the world in human history, we are not just on the outside looking in we are engaged and involved, as a partner of choice, and a leader in education and skills and technology.
Everything about Newcastle and the Hunter speaks for what we can achieve when we act with urgency and purpose, optimism and determination.
When we work to shape the future, rather than waiting for the future to shape us.
You've done it here before.
We can do it together again.
We can build and secure the better future that all Australians deserve.