Brendan O'Connor (Gorton, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Employment and Workplace Relations) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That so much of the standing and sessional orders be suspended as would prevent the member for Gorton from moving the following motion forthwith:

That this House condemns the Abbott Government for its failure to protect Australian jobs in the automotive and manufacturing industry.

This is indeed a very, very sad day for Australia. An iconic company that has had a remarkable history does not look like it has much of a future, and we have to ask ourselves: why is it that this great company, Holden, sees itself in such a difficult situation? Well, you need not go any further than to look at the conduct and behaviour of those opposite in terms of not engaging with this company and looking after the 1,300 workers in Victoria and the 1,600 workers and their families in South Australia.

Yesterday, we had the remarkable situation where the Treasurer of this country threatened the company and dared them to leave Australia. I quote from this newspaper: 'Hockey dares GM to leave'.

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