Kelvin Thomson (Wills, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

He also interjected on the member for Throsby, saying, 'It's not if we're elected but when we're elected.' I thought that interjection highly revealing. Those opposite should not take the Australian people for granted.

It is quite remarkable that the Leader of the Opposition now keeps popping up around Australia crying crocodile tears over the future of manufacturing and what he alleges will occur under a carbon price. So the Liberal Party has discovered manufacturing. The Leader of the Opposition stood by and watched thousands of manufacturing jobs go overseas when he was a minister in the Howard government. Furthermore, he supported laws to take away unfair dismissal protection from millions of workers. He attacks the mining tax. That will help manufacturing by lowering the company tax rate and taxes on small business. The Leader of the Opposition says he has a plan to tackle climate change. It turns out that that plan will cost taxpayers more than $30 billion, according to the department of climate change analysis. Furthermore, he has no plan to invest in the technology programs which are necessary to create new jobs and which are a feature of this government under the minister for industry, Senator Carr. In fact, the Leader of the Opposition has a policy to cut over $500 million from the car industry. It is a shame. It is a disgrace. It will be highly damaging to motor vehicle manufacturing in this country if he were given that opportunity or, according to the member for Riverina, when he is given that opportunity. By way of contrast, the Labor government has been supporting the car industry through important green initiatives.

In September last year, the government announced an investment of $63 million to bring production of Toyota's next generation four-cylinder engine for the Camry and Hybrid Camry to Australia. The grant will be used to install cutting-edge plant equipment. It will lead to a dramatic expansion and renewal of capacity at Toyota's engine plant in Altona, Victoria. This is a substantial investment in Australian manufacturing and a substantial step towards creating an economically and environmentally sustainable automotive industry. It will help anchor Toyota's operations in Australia for years to come. This decision shows tremendous confidence in Australia's innovative automotive sector and the capabilities of our suppliers and workers, including the 320 employees at Toyota's Altona engine plant.

The new petrol engines built on the line will consume 4½ per cent less fuel and produce five per cent fewer greenhouse emissions than today's equivalent engine. This will cut carbon pollution by up to 20,000 tonnes a year. This locally produced hybrid engine, an Australian first, will consume just six litres of petrol per 100 kilometres and emit 142 grams of carbon dioxide per kilometre—a really big breakthrough indeed. The Perth company, Orbital Australia, was awarded a grant last year to develop greener engine technology for the Chinese auto maker Changan Automobile. Changan is China's fourth largest auto maker, and a partnership with them is an important development in deepening ties with what is now the world's largest auto-making company. It is a project which supports jobs and reduces harmful emissions on the world's roadways.

The Australian automotive industry has a vital role to play in developing innovative systems and components for green cars worldwide. I point out to the House that the carbon price, which the opposition are of course highly excited about, will apply only to the biggest polluters in our economy—fewer than 1,000. They will be required to pay for every tonne of pollution they emit. This is, as many studies have shown and many experts have pointed out, the most effective and cheapest way for us to build a clean energy economy. All of the revenue from a carbon price will be used to provide households with fair and generous assistance to support jobs in the most affected industries and to invest in clean energy. Bringing down carbon pollution levels is critically important to our children's future. It is about ensuring that they have a healthy environment to live in and new high-skilled jobs for their work. Taking action on climate change is the right thing to do. It is the right thing for our economy, the right thing for employment, the right thing for the environment. It is true that taking action is tough but we are not going to shirk this responsibility. In order to support jobs and compete in the next century—a century which will be increasingly characterised by a move towards clean energy and the technology of the future—we need to act now on climate change.

Frankly, all we get from those opposite is rank opportunism, denial of basic scientific facts and denial of basic economic facts. The government is very mindful of the position of the manufacturing industry, given the high Australian dollar and rising commodity prices. I want to point out to the House some of the initiatives of Senator Carr, who is extremely well regarded right around the manufacturing world. Senator Carr understands that innovation is the key for our manufacturers to remain sustainable and internationally competitive and to make the move to a low emissions economy. We have a 10-year innovation agenda called Powering Ideas and have established Commer­cialisation Australia to help commercialise new research and intellectual property. We formed eight industry innovation councils to champion innovation in industry and introduced the R&D tax credit to make it easier for manufacturers to invest in new competitive products. Initiatives like the New Car Plan for a Greener Future and the textile, clothing and footwear innovation package are encouraging investment and the introduction of new technologies. We are ensuring that Australian manufacturers have access to major investment projects, global supply chains and opportunities through the Australian Industry Participation National Framework and through the appointment of supplier advocates in key sectors. Australia suppliers will also have a better chance of benefiting from the nation's resources projects through a $34 million Buy Australian at Home and Abroad initiative.

Furthermore, the government is devel­oping long-term strategies through the book industry strategy group, the printing industry working group and the food-processing industry strategy group that will increase the productivity, sustainability and compet­itiveness of these industries. This is the hard work, this is the heavy lifting which sets up Australian manufacturing well for the forthcoming century, a century in which we will be challenged by the need to reduce our carbon emissions. This is doing the hard yards rather than the cheap opportunism of those opposite who have no solutions and no ideas about manufacturing. They did not have any ideas for manufacturing when they were in government. They do not have any ideas for manufacturing now that they are in opposition. All they are interested in is seeking to score political points at the expense of real necessary action.

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