Nick Champion (Wakefield, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

Obviously, I rise to oppose the amendment moved by the Leader of the House. This is a government whose character is being revealed by its foreign investment decisions. It is a government led by a man who combines the economic policies of Malcolm Fraser, the politics of Richard Nixon and the economic xenophobia of BA Santamaria. That is its character. Its first approach is to do nothing; its second approach is to divide the community and to blame people; and the last approach is to demonise foreign investors, albeit for different reasons in different circumstances.

We saw this with GrainCorp and we have seen it with Holden. This will cost Australians jobs and it will cost Australians investment. This decision is no surprise because, on Thursday, 13 June this year the Adelaide Advertiser reported 'Libs reject Holden support ultimatum—no more car cash'. That was the headline in the Adelaide Advertiser. This government's policies were no surprise to GM in Detroit—no surprise at all. We were all waiting with bated breath on the election and on whether or not the Abbott government would actually undertake this $500 million cut. It was flagged to Detroit. They knew the nature of this government. But what we did not count on was the Minister for Industry, who is nowhere to be seen in this debate or in this parliament, who stormed out last night with the Treasurer but is not participating in this debate.

The Abbott government came to power on 3 October this year. The ABC headline was: 'New Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane tours Holden plant and seeks patience from Detroit over federal assistance'. That was to buy time so they could have another cabinet debate, another bit of division in the cabinet. During the first debate the Treasurer lost out to the member for New England. He got done over by the member for New England. We know he had to win this one. He had to triumph over the industry minister, the member for Groom, at the cost of thousands of jobs. Fifty thousand jobs is the price of this Treasurer's bravado.

After this long period of silence where they asked the nation for patience, where they asked GM in Detroit for patience, where they asked car workers for their patience, what do we have? The government's industry policy descends to a one-page letter. Can you imagine the governments of Germany, the US, South Korea or Japan behaving in such a way, issuing letters to their major companies? Can you imagine that? Can you imagine those nations' treasurers, standing at the dispatch box goading and hectoring a company to leave the country—goading and hectoring a company about their foreign investment decisions? What was Detroit supposed to make of all this?

It is hardly laying out the welcome mat for foreign investment, is it, as we saw with GrainCorp? No wonder you can hear boardrooms around the country drawing breath as they think, 'They promised a government of adults and what we've got is a bunch of erratic 15-year-old children.' That is what we have got. They are as fickle as a teenage girl. That is the truth of it.

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