Tuesday, 4 February 2025

Adjournment

ARB Corporation

David HODGETT (Croydon) (19:00): (971) My adjournment today is for the Premier, and the action I seek is for the Premier to intervene and call on the federal government to resolve the skilled migration issue faced by ARB Corporation in Kilsyth. This year ARB Corporation celebrates 50 years of success as a proud global leader in the design and manufacture of four-wheel drive accessories. The cornerstone of ARB’s success is the Kilsyth, Victoria, based manufacturing plant and innovation centre, which churns out class-leading products for domestic customers and supports a thriving export business. ARB employs 1400 team members in Australia and 2300 globally. ARB’s Victoria-based operation serves a multitude of critical service customers. The company has framed agreements with the UNHCR, the Red Cross and the World Food Programme to supply fleet vehicles for global humanitarian aid and relief. It also holds national contracts with state-based fire and rescue departments, law enforcement agencies, ambulance fleets and specific defence organisations. Next time you pass a Victoria Police vehicle, note the ARB equipment that helps protect our law enforcement officers. The Kilsyth factory also drives export revenue. Around half of ARB’s $700 million annual revenue is generated offshore, exactly the kind of economic activity our Victorian government is meant to support.

Despite these contributions, ARB has been unsupported in its efforts to retain skilled migrants at its Kilsyth factory. With welding and metal fabrication skills on the decline nationally, ARB has had to rely on offshore labour to meet growing demand and to support both domestic and international contracts. While ARB continues to benefit from its talented local team, the federal Labor government’s current approach places unrealistic expectations on the company to rely solely on domestic resources without providing the support needed to retain and attract additional skilled workers for future growth. As a result, these critical contracts are under threat and may ultimately be lost or sent offshore if this issue is not addressed.

I urge the Premier to intervene and call on the federal government to resolve the skilled migration issue faced by ARB Corporation and assist in securing the skilled workforce that is vital to ARB’s continued success and to the broader economic and community benefits it delivers. ARB, Victorian manufacturing and local jobs must be supported, and this critical issue cannot be ignored.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Order! Before I call the member for Laverton, in regard to the member for Croydon’s adjournment item:

State government submission to federal body. It is in order for a member to raise a matter for a minister relating to the state government’s submission or approach to a federal government body, but it may not be in order to raise a matter for the minister to take up with a federal counterpart.

There is another one here too.

David HODGETT: Deputy Speaker, if I may assist. Minister Hutchins has been out to ARB and assisted with this matter, so it is a state-related matter, but the actual skilled migration program is obviously in the federal arena. In order to assist ARB, Victorian manufacturing and local jobs, which are very important to our state, the action I am seeking is for the Premier to intervene to try and bring about a resolution to this matter.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: In the spirit of trying to get this done, it is in order for a state minister to be asked to write to a federal counterpart, if that is your wish.

David HODGETT: You are leading the witness! Then I will correct or change, if I may, my adjournment matter so that the action I seek is for the Premier to write to the federal government to resolve the skilled migration issue faced by ARB Corporation in Kilsyth, and the rest of my adjournment stands to put that into context. Thank you for your flexibility there, Deputy Speaker.

The DEPUTY SPEAKER: Thank you for your assistance, member for Croydon.