Maria Vamvakinou (Calwell, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am really pleased to rise today to speak on the Appropriation Bill (No. 3) 2011-2012 and the Appropriation Bill (No. 4) 2011-2012. It is very important that from time to time we get the opportunity to talk about the impact of budget measures on our electorate and to report to, in this case, the Federation Chamber on the progress of the funding of significant projects and significant programs in our electorates. My electorate, the federal seat of Calwell, has been a significant beneficiary of lots of government budget measures and so I am very pleased to be able to today speak about some of those measures.

As I have said on many occasions, the seat of Calwell is one of the 10 most socioeconomically challenged electorates in Australia and we—not from time to time but constantly—show up in the statistics as having a very high unemployment rate. Often it can go as much as seven per cent higher than the Victorian and national rates. We are an electorate that presents many challenges for government. The Labor government recognises the situation in my seat of Calwell and the challenges that are before it.

I want to speak about a particular program that has been of great benefit to my electorate, the $304 million package that aims to address the areas of education and employment, two areas where there is great need. They need to be funded and improved because education and health services are services in my electorate that blue collar constituents and constituents with no skills probably have the greatest need to access. I am very pleased to say that my constituents are beginning to very much feel the effects and benefits of that package, together with the effects of the government's strong, enduring and ongoing commitment to manufacturing.

Manufacturing, and manufacturing in the automotive industry in particular, is crucial to local employment in my electorate. In addition to that, it is also crucial to the overall national economy and our capacity as a nation to innovate and to continue to produce jobs in a new economy. I have often spoken about the Ford Motor Company, which is the largest manufacturing employer in my electorate, and I am very pleased to say that recently Ford, in a co-payment arrangement with the federal government, received a $103 million grant that will be used largely to upgrade the emissions performance of the very successful Ford Falcon and the extremely successful Ford Territory. The announcement of this grant was made after meetings in the Ford headquarters in Detroit between the Minister for Manufacturing, Senator Kim Carr; Ford Asia Pacific and Africa President, Mr John Hinrichs; and the Ford Australia President and CEO, Mr Bob Graziano. I can report to the Federation Chamber that the many people in my electorate who either work at the Ford factory or rely on the automotive industry and the car component industry for their jobs and for their livelihoods were very delighted that this co investment has come their way. Very importantly, it has ensured that the iconic Ford Falcon will be produced to at least the end of 2016, thereby guaranteeing their jobs.

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