Melissa Price (Durack, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I am pleased to speak on this matter of public importance so that I can explain to the members opposite just how six years of Labor has hindered our economy. To help those same members I will also shed some light on the hypocrisy that Australians constantly have to endure when they turn on their television or listen to the radio and have to once again listen to those opposite.

Nobody on either side of this House wants job losses to occur. The coalition understands that industry and business underpin our economy and need to be supported; but, to support industry and business, we need to help them capitalise on investment opportunities and create new jobs. The answer to this is not an everlasting slush fund that creates a $123 billion deficit, as Labor did. We on this side of the chamber do want a viable automotive industry in Australia, but we expect the car manufacturing industry, like any industry, to stand on its own two feet. As the Prime Minister and the Treasurer have already stated, Toyota indicated that this decision was made in the context of a changing global environment for the car makers and there was nothing the government could do to prevent this decision.

Those opposite may want to sit and point fingers now, forgetting that, under Labor, one manufacturing job was lost every 19 minutes. In the last two years, the Labor Party broke $1.4 billion in promised funding commitments as they chopped and changed their car industry policies. Instead of throwing stones, the Labor Party needs to support jobs and industry as the coalition is doing.

The coalition has announced considered measures to strengthen Australia's manufacturing future and initiatives to provide targeted support for the regions recently impacted. These include the establishment of a $100 million growth fund to support economically responsible initiatives in regions facing pressure in their manufacturing areas and the establishment of a task force chaired by the Prime Minister to develop a national industry investment and competitiveness agenda which will focus on our strengths, create jobs and exploit our competitive advantages. It is important that those opposite and all Australians do, however, realise that it is not the role of government to create jobs but to create the right environment for business and industry to grow. This will encourage economic prosperity and that is where we create the new job opportunities.

Although government is the easy target, we know it is not always to blame. Our global economy is changing and, as a result, so must our key industries. To help create an environment of certainty, the Labor Party needs to stop playing politics and instead support our legislative plan to repeal the carbon tax, which slugged the sector for a further $460 million, and also help us repeal this ill-conceived mining tax that has burdened Australia's largest export industry for long enough.

The Western Australian resources sector generated the largest contribution to GDP of any state resources sector at 53 per cent of the national resources industry value, an add of $89 billion in 2011-12. A majority of these resource projects are in my electorate of Durack, and in particular in the Pilbara. It is this industry that the opposition need to support if they truly believe in saving jobs.

Members opposite have, however, already shown over the past six years that instead they want to put a drain on this industry, discourage investment and make Australia internationally uncompetitive by adding more regulation in an attempted cash grab. Australian business and industry need to focus on what we are good at so that we can once again increase domestic and international market confidence and confidence in the hip pocket of everyday Australians. That is why the coalition is focused on cutting red and green tape and reducing regulatory burdens so that people once again have the confidence to spend. The coalition government has swiftly moved to progress some $450 million worth of environmental approvals. All this helps to get mining projects out of the ground more quickly and also helps to create more Australian jobs.

In rural and regional areas, and particularly the area of Durack, our strengths are in developing the resources sector and investing in small business. Small business, as we know, is the backbone of Australia's economy and is ultimately the backbone of Durack's economy. Australia has many strengths, and it is time that those opposite started to support business and industry by helping this government and all Australians to develop and invest in them.

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