Tony Abbott (Warringah, Liberal Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I am happy to assure the Leader of the Opposition that I made no such statement. I made no such statement in the party room or anywhere else. I made no such statement because it is not the case. There were a whole range of factors behind Toyota's decision. Those factors were enumerated to me at different times, including last night, and the sad truth is that the cost of producing cars in this country was simply too high for Toyota to continue. It was simply too high for Toyota to continue.

I can understand why the Leader of the Opposition wants to sheet all of this home to a government which has been in power for less than six months, as opposed to a government that was in power for six years, but the fact is that 130,000 manufacturing jobs disappeared under members opposite. Motor industry production declined by a third; motor industry employment declined by a quarter; Ford announced their departure; and Mitsubishi did depart—under members opposite.

Let us not dwell on the past. Let us not play the blame game, which the Leader of the Opposition is so desperate to do. Let us ask ourselves this question: what should this parliament do to make it easier for jobs to be created in this country? What should this parliament do to try to ensure that businesses can flourish in this country? And let us ask the question—

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