Peter Garrett (Kingsford Smith, Australian Labor Party, Minister for School Education, Early Childhood and Youth) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for her question. In relation to the specific questions she has asked about the relative proportion of imported parts within those cars identified as receiving support from the Green Car Innovation Fund and the question she asked additionally about the Camry and the green Commodore, I will take those questions on notice. I would make one basic point, though. This government has provided support because it knows that across all levels of our economy, including across automotive industries, we need to get on a path to a more sustainable future and motor vehicles have their role to play just as a number of other industries do in being able to take an innovative and a purposeful approach to actually reducing emissions over time. This is something which was not contemplated in any significant way by the coalition when they had those opportunities. The fact is that we do have a suite of measures in place to foster innovation across all industry sectors. We are specifically committed to the long-term future of these industries and the minister is particularly aware, as is the government, that there are significant competitive pressures that face the Australian manufacturing sector. We have put in place a range of measures to make sure that we can provide appropriate assistance to enable these industries to be globally competitive. What is A New Car Plan for a Greener Future, with a $5 billion commitment in it, if it is not evidence of this government's commitment to supporting innovation in the automotive industry? I cannot think of any other statistic that can provide that opportunity. In particular, there is the $3.4 billion Automotive Transformation Scheme to reward research, development and investment in technologies that will, as the name suggests, help transform the industry.

The fact is that the Green Car Innovation Fund made around half a billion dollars available to the industry and has leveraged around $2 billion in total investment and assisted the local industry to weather the kinds of storms that they have faced in the global financial crisis. I think there are significant achievements here: helping Toyota secure the investment for the locally produced hybrid Camry—what a significant achievement for the minister and for the government. This is a motor vehicle that we will increasingly see on our roads—a motor vehicle that is more efficient. Other achievements include enabling GM to invest in the local production of the Holden Cruze and assisting Ford towards introducing the fuel-efficient EcoBoost engine for the Falcon. These are extremely important supports and they are ones that are going to pay significant dividends for both consumers and the country as a whole in the future.

The member has asked me to make comment about reported—I think she used this expression—'rorting' of the luxury car tax. I will take that question on notice as well. What I would say is that we totally understand how important it is to provide appropriately targeted support in innovation, in supporting industry and in building sustainability across the manufacturing sector. The fact is that the member opposite and her leader have plans to make massive cuts to industry programs. They want to take half a billion dollars away from the Automotive Transformation Scheme that I have just referred to, a scheme that provides important co-investment in research and development and increases the competitiveness opportunities for the automotive industry, an industry we have consistently and strongly supported and will continue to do so. (Time expired)

Proposed expenditure agreed to.

Families, Housing, Community Services and Indigenous Affairs Portfolio

Proposed expenditure, $2,238,371,000

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