Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Hansard source

I see the honourable member for Gippsland here. We visited the Gippsland Aeronautics factory together. They are a wonderful example of Australians pioneering in a difficult sector with an aircraft that really does a wonderful job. The Jabiru operations in the electorate of the honourable member for Hinkler have sold well over 1,000 aircraft and something like 2,000 engines. They are an entirely Australian produced aircraft, with Australian engines in them as well. Wouldn’t they love a $300,000 subsidy for each of their employees? They would take the world by storm if they had that opportunity. If we go down to Hervey Bay, where the Seabird Seeker is manufactured—about a dozen or 15 of them—Seabird Aviation have had to move a lot of their manufacturing operations to Jordan—Jordan!—because of the difficulties of being able to operate in this country. Wouldn’t they like a $300,000 subsidy for their workers? The Seabird Seeker would be flying in a lot more countries in the world than it is now if the government were prepared to offer them that kind of support. In your own electorate, Mr Deputy Speaker Scott, the Whitney Boomerang is being manufactured in Kingaroy. Dean Wilson Aviation are battling to get a new training aircraft accepted in the world market. It is a huge investment for a small family business. They have done that. They have got the aircraft operational. But wouldn’t they love a $300,000 subsidy for each of their employees? We could be world leaders in aviation if we were prepared to offer the aviation industry the same support that we give to the car industry. We could be a world leader in chemicals manufacturing, in food processing—in almost every sector—if the government were prepared to give these people a $300,000 annual subsidy, but we have these special arrangements only for the car industry.

I turn to an industry in my own area that would love just a bit of sympathy from the government, let alone a $300,000 subsidy. At the Queensland state election, Premier Anna Bligh promised to create 100,000 new jobs. She, incidentally, drives around in an American Dodge, not an Australian car. Anna Bligh also promised to protect existing jobs by preferring local contractors in tenders to supply publicly funded infrastructure. But, behind the scenes, she has endorsed the tendering on the international market of a $2 billion Queensland Rail contract which will supply 200 new QR trains. Rail is a very significant and important industry in Maryborough in my electorate. Downer EDI Rail in Maryborough employs approximately 600 people and supports at least 1,000 jobs. It is not asking for a $300,000 per job subsidy; it just wants a fair go in competing for a tender to provide trains to the Queensland rail network rather than having the government run overseas seeking to buy Chinese or Indian trains. The company just wants a fair go. It wants some support, and surely it is entitled to it.

Downer EDI has a strong tradition of supplying trains to Queensland Rail, having secured a contract to supply 20 three-car passenger trains valued in excess of $200 million as recently as February this year. Given the successful relationship between Downer EDI and Queensland Rail and Anna Bligh’s public statements about protecting Queensland jobs, it came as a shock to learn that the new $2 billion contract is at risk of going offshore. It is incredible that the Bligh Labor government, with all the trouble that the state is in—its huge debt, its rising unemployment—would send jobs overseas, threatening the livelihoods and families of businesses who rely on Downer EDI jobs, especially when the Premier was so explicit during the election campaign about keeping the jobs in Queensland. Anna Bligh offered jobs as an excuse for her government’s economic incompetence in running up an $85 billion state debt and a $2 billion budget deficit. In the light of the news that a foreign company is amongst those short-listed for this tender and for this process, her excuse seems more like spin, just like her promise to keep the Queensland fuel subsidy.

Downer EDI’s contribution to the Fraser Coast economy cannot be underestimated. They have got a proven track record going back well over 100 years. Downer EDI—or its predecessor, Walkers—built the first trains in Queensland. They built, I think, the first steam engine produced in Australia—it was certainly the first one produced in Queensland. A replica of that train still runs around the streets of Maryborough on weekends and on special occasions as a result of the tremendous work of local volunteers. They built Queensland’s first steam trains. They built the first diesel and diesel-electric trains. In fact, they have had almost 100 per cent of the market. They built the electric trains and, of course, the tilt train. This is an innovative and progressive company. They succeeded in devising and building a tilt train where companies around the world had failed, and we have this high-standard technology operating in Queensland. They built passenger trains not just for Brisbane. Maryborough trains run on the Perth network and also in Kuala Lumpur, and they have been active in producing products for other places. Wouldn’t they love $300,000 per employee subsidy when they are trying to bid against Korean and Chinese companies to build trains for Queensland?

The government in Queensland is well aware of what is at stake. If Downer EDI lose a contract of this magnitude, which amounts to the loss of decades of work, the factory will simply have to close. At a time when jobs are becoming harder and harder to get, these jobs in a regional centre are so important to maintain. A responsible government would not have the double standard of providing massive subsidies to car manufacturing plants in Melbourne and Adelaide while allowing major heavy industry, such as the manufacture of trains, to close in regional centres. A responsible Queensland government would understand and act on its obligation to the Queensland economy by supporting local businesses and securing local jobs, but if the Bligh Labor government will not do it then the federal Labor government most certainly ought to. If it can find billions to subsidise the car industry, surely it can give proper consideration to other, innovative manufacturers in this country who are battling against the high costs and the changes to industrial relations in this country in a way that means the loss of flexibility, so increasing the costs to this sector.

The opposition supports the legislation. We are concerned that the car industry depends year in, year out on ongoing government support. It must look forward to a day when it can stand on its own feet and compete fairly and properly with manufacturers in other parts of the world. We commit ourselves to working with the industry to achieve economic self-sustainability and we hope this is the last time that governments have to come into this parliament with major assistance packages through legislation such as this for the car industry.

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