Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Hansard source

It is very clear from the remarks we have just heard from, amongst other people, the Minister for Climate Change, that I am getting under their skin. I certainly am travelling this country. I am going to the workplaces of this country, particularly the blue-collar workplaces of this country, to alert the Australian people to the threat posed to jobs, in particular the threat posed to manufacturing jobs by this government's carbon tax. I will keep doing this. I will keep doing this, every day, while there is breath in my body, because the one thing that we need in this country is a viable manufacturing sector. If there is one sector of our country which is threatened by the government's carbon tax it is the manufacturing sector of this country.

Let us have no more talk in this parliament about big polluters, because all of those decent, honest Australian businesses, which are defamed day in, day out by senior members of this government, are not so much the big polluters but the big employers, the big exporters and the big providers of jobs in this country. That is what they are. Let there be no doubt about the intentions of the authors of this carbon tax legislation: they want to kill manufacturing industry in this country. They must kill manufacturing industry in this country, because manufacturing in this country cannot continue without power, and power in this country is absolutely dependent upon the burning of coal, the burning of gas and the use of oil. I say to members opposite: how many steel mills can you run on solar power? How many motor-manufacturing plants can you run on wind power? That is why I will travel right around this country, every day, while this parliament is not sitting, alerting the blue-collar workers of this country to the threat that this government poses to their jobs and their livelihood. These people who are so derided, so defamed, so blackguarded by members of this government are absolutely essential to a modern economy. They are absolutely essential if the standard of living of every single Australian is to be maintained. The whole point of a carbon tax is to shrink and ultimately to close industries that emit carbon dioxide. That is the whole point of a carbon tax. There is no point having a carbon tax if it does not mean that we burn less coal, use less gas, use less petrol and use less power. If we do not do that, there is no point whatsoever to this carbon tax.

Let me start to go through just what this carbon tax is going to do to the manu–facturing sector of this country. Let me appeal to members opposite who I suspect in their hearts do want to do the right thing by the workers of this country. I do not think all of them are as blind to reality as the Prime Minister and some of her colleagues. I think in their hearts they do want to stand up for the jobs of their constituents and for their union members. I want to lay down in this chamber some of the jobs that will be at risk if this carbon tax goes ahead. There are 1,300 jobs at Ford at Geelong. I know because I have been there. I am standing up for the jobs at Ford. What is the member for Corio doing for the workers at Geelong? What is the member for Corangamite doing for the workers at Geelong? I see the Special Minister of State at the table. In the electorate of Brand, there are 1,300 jobs at Alcoa at Kwinana. What is the minister doing for those jobs at Kwinana?

I see another minister at the table. What is he doing for the jobs at the steel mill in Western Sydney? Members opposite need to stand up for, in this case, the old Smorgon steel mill, now a OneSteel mill. Come on, mate, surely you are not so ignorant as to not know anything about the Smorgon steel mill in Western Sydney. You may not be interested in their jobs but you have not forgotten about the existence of the mill, surely.

Really and truly, right around Australia jobs are at risk in the electorates of members opposite and it is high time they stood up for them. There are 800 jobs at the Newlands coalmine in the electorate of Capricornia. There are 600 jobs at the Moranbah mine and 600 jobs at the German Creek mine. Also in the electorate of Corio, there are 3,300 jobs at Toyota at Altona. In the electorate of Calwell, there are around 1,900 jobs at Ford at Broadmeadow. All of these jobs are at risk under this government's carbon tax and it is high time that members opposite started standing up for the jobs of their constituents. It is high time that members opposite stopped making excuses for a floundering Prime Minister, stopped defending a policy that is obviously failing and started standing up for the jobs of their members.

We know that the Prime Minister is not interested in the 500 jobs at OneSteel Laverton. We know she is not interested because I went there and the workers said to me: 'Where is the Prime Minister? She doesn't want to protect our jobs. She wants to hit us with a carbon tax that will put all of those jobs at risk.'

I see the Chief Government Whip, the member for Hunter. What are you going to say, Joel, for the 600 jobs at the Wambo coalmine, the 600 jobs at the Mount Thorley coalmine and the 600 jobs at the Mt Owen coalmine? What are you going to say about that, Joel? Stand up for the workers of your electorate and say no to this carbon tax. Be less interested, Joel, in staying on as Chief Government Whip and more interested in protecting the jobs of the people that you are pledged to represent in this parliament.

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