Education Minister Jason Clare says Peter Dutton is making a "mockery" of his claim the Liberal party is for the working class by opposing Labor's $15 billion manufacturing fund.
Mr Clare refuted criticism from the coalition that the government's National Reconstruction Fund was too broad in its ministerial discretion, declaring their opposition as defying belief.
"We had Peter Dutton this week saying that the Liberal Party are the party of the working class, but now they're going to oppose legislation that's going to create more manufacturing jobs to help us to build more things here in Australia," he told Sky News on Sunday.
"That just makes a mockery of that argument."
Mr Clare said the manufacturing fund was addressing supply chains issues, with Australia needing to make more things after gaps emerged during the COVID-19 pandemic.
The fund is a Labor election promise, which pledges to give businesses access to finance in a bid to improve innovation in areas including transport, medical science, and defence.
The coalition has decided to block the proposed fund, which means the government will need the support of the Greens plus two crossbenchers in the Senate for the legislation to pass.
Deputy Liberal Leader Sussan Ley said the national reconstruction fund was not responding to the needs of struggling manufacturers.
"It's answering the needs of the Labor Party and the unions, because it's not addressing right now what it needs to which is workforce shortages, a supply chain disruption, and of course, energy costs," she said.
