Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Treasurer) Share this | Hansard source

The costs of production in Australia have inhibited our ability to compete on the world stage, therefore we must do everything we possibly can to try and reduce our costs of production without reducing the real wages of workers.

So I say emphatically again in this place, as I did yesterday, to the workers at Toyota: please on Friday vote to support Toyota being in Australia. Please do that. Please do not listen to the AMWU, which is urging you to vote against a change in the work conditions at Toyota. If there is any lesson that must be learnt it is that you cannot push against the tide; you must work with the flow to get maximum benefit for Australian workers. That is what you have to do.

Now we have the union saying that Toyota, which exports 70 per cent of its production to the Middle East, should close for 21 days over Christmas—when the Middle East needs that constant supply of Toyota motor vehicles. And it is not as if Toyota is saying, 'No Christmas'—it is coming back and saying, 'We just want to close the plant for 10 days, please, so that we can be a consistent supplier to the Middle East.'

What about this clause in the agreement between Toyota and its workers: currently, union representatives are entitled to 10 days paid education leave per year for the purpose of union sponsored training. Union reps get 10 days pay for 10 days of sponsored training, and the union representatives are able to pool their collective days. So some senior union reps can take months off work and be paid by Toyota. Toyota is legitimately saying, 'We want to be able to allow our union representatives to take days off for union training, but let's get the balance right.' How do you explain in Tokyo that workers are entitled to have four hours paid leave for the purpose of donating blood? Really, this is the sort of stuff that sends the worst message overseas.

And Detroit as a capital city has just gone bankrupt. General Motors has just lost billions of dollars. The American government has just lost nearly $10 billion on its investment in General Motors. General Motors is closing plants right around the world. And in Australia the costs of production per vehicle are $3,750 higher than anywhere else. And why is it a surprise?

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