Stewart McArthur (Corangamite, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

The shadow minister shakes his head and says that he did not have an ambivalent position. We on this side of the parliament supported the then Labor government in lowering the tariffs. The former minister would recall that. We were very supportive of the Button plan and even some changes to the TCF industry. We complimented the then government on their attitude. But they were ambivalent from time to time. I think the shadow minister changed his mind and looked for long-term manufacturing plans. To be fair, they did bring about a change in the attitude to tariffs—very strongly supported by the then opposition.

We have a position now where the car industry is world competitive and the tariffs have been reduced from about 150 per cent down to the current negligible levels. Likewise in the TCF industry—

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