Mr Albanese said a Labor government would have a Future Made In Australia policy that would rejuvenate the manufacturing sector, after years of import-driven policies that resulted in trains "too long for our stations, or too narrow for our tracks, or too tall for our tunnels".

Promising to strengthen Australian content in defence and other government contracting, Mr Albanese said he wanted the nation to make things rather than be on the "last link" in an import supply chain.

Building on Mr Albanese's announcements, Labor MPs Brendan O'Connor (employment and industry) and Catherine King (infrastructure, transport and regional development) said Labor's rail policies would help create more than 600 jobs, revive the rolling stock export industry and boost national GDP by as much as $5 billion.

Mr O'Connor said Labor would establish an Office of National Rail Industry Co-ordination within the Department of Industry to conduct an audit of the "adequacy, capacity and condition" of the nation's passenger trains, and develop "train priority plans" to improve the fleet.

He said Labor would reinstate the position of Rail Supplier Advocate, which had been cut by the Coalition in 2013, to help smaller businesses find export opportunities and "get a foot in the door" with government purchasing bodies.

A Rail Innovation Council would "prevent the loss of more jobs" and to address a need to lift Australia's research and development effort.

A similar policy was announced in May 2019 by Newcastle MP Sharon Claydon, following a State of Australia's Rail Industry report published by a Senate committee in October 2017.

The Morrison government responded to the report in December 2018, "noting" eight of its nine recommendations, but rejecting the committee's call for a new federal body - as proposed by Labor - to "drive" a national rail plan.

Last night, Mr O'Connor said the Morrison government's recent announcements on manufacturing had "failed to recognise the importance of rail manufacturing".

He said Labor would train workers and support Australian jobs from "laying the rails to building the trains".

Ms King said Hunter companies including Lovells Springs, Comsteel, Downer, UGL Limited (formerly Goninan's) and Varley at Carrington had the capability to be involved.

"Labor's plan will help turn this around," Ms King said.

As well as manufacturing, Mr Albanese listed listed childcare, energy policy, public housing and the creation of a US-like Australian Centre for Disease Control as major Labor initiatives in his budget reply speech.

Saying Treasurer Josh Frydenberg's budget on Tuesday "fails the test" when it comes to fairness, Mr Albanese said the budget had nothing to say about "insecure work . . . family budgets pushed to breaking point" and "a care economy workforce in childcare, aged care and disability care that is overworked and underpaid".

"How can the Government push the national debt to a trillion dollars and yet leave these fundamental problems unresolved?" Mr Albanese said.

He said Labor would increase the maximum child care subsidy to 90 per cent, establish a new Rewiring the Nation Corporation to modernise the power grid and invest in public housing.

He said the pandemic had "exposed Australia's vulnerability" and a Centre for Disease Control would bring us into line with other advanced economies.

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