Tuesday, 31 March 2026

 David LIMBRICK (South-Eastern Metropolitan) (18:16): (2452) My adjournment is for the Minister for Industry and Advanced Manufacturing in the other place. I have an urgent issue that was brought to my attention by a local manufacturer. Among the many things they make in south-east Melbourne, which is Australia’s largest manufacturing region, is plastic containers and their closures. Many plastic containers are not imported, they are actually made in Australia, and they are used for everything that you might see in the shops, ranging from milk bottles to cleaning products and bottles for medicines. These containers often use intricate and sophisticated designs that make supply efficient and keep consumers safe. But the supply of resins for these bottles has been disrupted by the war in Iran. Without the containers or their closures many items will disappear from the shelves. This could lead to job losses along the supply chain and could cause panic amongst consumers and enormous problems with the distribution of medicine in particular. I am informed that we may only have two or three months supply for the raw materials used in blow moulds, including polyethylene. My office is happy to assist with contacts, but my request to the minister is to work with the federal government to make whatever diplomatic efforts are necessary to arrange for polymer resin shipments from the United States as soon as possible.