Mr GREG PIPER (Lake Macquarie) (17:17): I am happy to support the public interest debate motion moved by the member for Swansea. It is a fantastic outcome for workers in the Hunter. Those hardworking people have had a cloud hanging over their futures—perhaps not them but certainly their children and grandchildren—after generations of people from our region supporting this State. Our region has led the way in power generation for New South Wales. We led the way with the Newcastle Steelworks and with rail manufacturing at the Broadmeadow site under Goninan and in Cardiff at the Downer EDI site. It is an enterprise that has been very successful over the years. But times change, and unfortunately governments and society did not adapt when they needed to. This is a $12 billion investment. That extraordinary number will give confidence to the local community. It is not something that we have to bank. I note the member for Upper Hunter is genuinely very excited about it and very supportive of it. Good on the member for Upper Hunter, because many of his constituents are also going to benefit from this investment. That is the whole point.
I have worked with the Government on a number of things during this Parliament. The Local Jobs First Bill passed this House last week. I was also very pleased to hear from the Minister for Natural Resources, Courtney Houssos, when she sent me a message saying, "Greg, believe it or not, our House finally managed to find a way to get the Future Jobs and Investment Bill through." Who would have thought that the upper House would actually do some work? It passed. We have the Local Jobs First Bill and the Future Jobs and Investment Bill. Now we have the announcement today about the Future Fleet Program. It paints a really good picture for the future of our region. I am also really pleased to have been part of a little bill that I introduced some time ago, which was the bill to unshackle the Port of Newcastle from the constraints that had been put on it by the former Government. The future is looking rosy. These things have a commonality. They will come together in the supply chains that are needed for the import and export associated with the manufacture of trains.
But this is not just about trains; the skill set needed and the capacity of that site is such that we are going to see other investment coming into the area—other heavy and light industry that will be complementary to, and complemented by, the work that is going to go on there. The union movement is excited. I am excited for the region. I was a former mayor of Lake Macquarie. I note the member for Charlestown, who is in the Chamber, was also a former mayor of Lake Macquarie. We are parochial about Lake Macquarie, as we should be, and we are parochial about our local State electorates. But none of that works if we do not look after the region. We have to invest in the region and we have done that today. I was proud to be there this morning with the Minister for the Hunter, the member for Charlestown, the member for Port Stephens, the member for Cessnock, the member for Maitland, transport Minister John Graham and Emily Suvaal. Have I missed anybody?
Ms Yasmin Catley: Courtney.
Mr GREG PIPER: There was also Courtney Houssos, the Minister for Natural Resources, and, of course, the Premier. This was a huge announcement. We should take a lot of heart from what it means for the future of not only our region but also the State. We are not so parochial as a region that we do not know that we are important to the State and the nation. I acknowledge what the State Government has done in this space. There could not have been a better site. I have to acknowledge one more organisation: Lake Macquarie City Council, an excellent council. It has done enormous work in this space. I congratulate Mayor Adam Shultz and general manager David Hughes.