Sarah Henderson (Corangamite, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I rise to make a contribution to this debate. Before the member for Gellibrand leaves the chamber—I notice he is scurrying out very quickly—he might care to back my petition for jobs, because we as a government are focused on delivering the jobs of the future. The East West Link project, to which we have contributed $3 billion, is a vital project for western Melbourne. The people of western Melbourne currently have a member of parliament who is not supporting a project that will deliver in excess of 6,000 construction jobs. In my electorate of Corangamite and for Geelong residents, this project will cut peak-hour commuter times between Geelong and Melbourne by three hours a week and deliver those vital jobs that we and our community need—that the people of western Melbourne need; that the people of Geelong and south-west Victoria and the people of Ballarat need. Members opposite are standing in the way of one of the most significant infrastructure projects in Victoria's history.

So today I ask everyone in the Geelong and Corangamite region to go onto my website and back the jobs of the future by signing this petition so that we can call on the House and all federal Labor MPs, including the Leader of the Opposition, the member for Gellibrand, the member for Corio and the member for Ballarat, to get the blinkers off, look at the jobs for the future and back the East West Link project. What Daniel Andrews has done in threatening to tear up the contracts on this project is an absolute disgrace. Not only does it jeopardise $3 billion of federal funding from that project; it also jeopardises our great state as a place to do business. God help us if he manages to get across the line at the state election.

I return to the debate today on the Automotive Transformation Scheme Amendment Bill 2014, and I propose to do so in two ways: by setting out the rationale for the government's decision to close the Automotive Transformation Scheme on 1 January 2018 and by reflecting on our government's commitment to advanced manufacturing and to investing in the jobs of the future, particularly in my electorate of Corangamite and across the Greater Geelong region, which has in the manufacturing sector gone through some difficult times and continues to do so.

It is extraordinary—and I reflect on the member for Wakefield's contribution. He talked about the car industry being in the government's hands. I refer to a report in the Geelong Advertiser on 24 May 2013 with the headline 'Shattered'—because that is what happened in my electorate when Ford decided to close manufacturing, as did Mitsubishi. Of course, in typical Labor fashion, in January 2012 the then Prime Minister, Julia Gillard, came down and threw $34 million at Ford, announcing that there would be another 300 jobs. What did we get in return?

Three hundred and thirty jobs were lost some eight months later. So what we saw with members of the reckless previous Labor government was the attitude that the more money you throw at something the better something will get. Unfortunately, it does not work that way.

We saw the beginning of the demise of the car industry under the previous government, very sadly. Whenever we talk about the end of Ford manufacturing in my region I talk about the 490 jobs that remain, including the 190 jobs that remain at the proving ground. There is some incredible work being done by many fine men and women who work for Ford in Geelong at their engineering and design plant and at the proving ground. We need to champion those jobs and the opportunities that those jobs deliver to our region for the future.

I do take particular issue with the member for Corio saying we will have a dumber nation as a result of the end of car manufacturing. I can assure him that we are focused on building a brighter, smarter nation, particularly smart manufacturing and the many opportunities that that presents the region I represent and our nation.

It is not enough to throw short-term dollars to get a political fix. We saw that with previous Prime Minister Gillard in January 2012 and we saw the most disgraceful example of that when $40 million was delivered to Alcoa. That was nothing more than a political fix. The Labor Party simply needed to get through the election. They were not prepared to face the hard decisions, particularly the hard decisions about some of their policies that had impacted so dreadfully on manufacturing in this country. The carbon tax was a $1.1 billion hit on manufacturing every year. It was one of the most toxic policies of the previous government that caused enormous damage in my electorate and throughout the Geelong region.

The decisions to cease manufacturing in Australia by 2016 by Ford and by 2017 by Holden and Toyota were made entirely by the vehicle producers themselves. I note the member for Wakefield was talking about the member for Hindmarsh slinking under his desk. I think the only one who should be slinking under his desk is the member for Wakefield. In a report in the Adelaide Advertiser on 8 August 2013 he was accused of misleading voters with his claim that he had 'secured guaranteed support for GM Holden Elizabeth, ensuring production until 2022'. At a time when Holden was currently weighing up its future in Adelaide he sent an incredibly misleading letter to his voters bragging and claiming that he had fixed the car industry in his region. Nothing was further from the truth. Unfortunately, again we have seen a fairly poor contribution from the member for Wakefield.

I have to add that the member for Gellibrand has demonstrated that he has really not researched his material very well at all. The point has been made in the House today that there has been incredible support for the car industry in this nation. The Productivity Commission has estimated that the automotive industry has received about $30 billion in government support between 1997 and 2012 in both tariff and budgetary assistance. Over that period there were some 5.1 million vehicles manufactured locally, equating to approximately $5,784 per vehicle of government support during this period. So, despite the most incredible amount of assistance, the industry has been unable to survive in a highly competitive market. When you reflect on Labor's record and the money that was thrown at the car industry and then reneged upon we can see that when an industry is struggling no amount of money will get them out of that struggle.

Let me reflect on Labor's record with the car industry. Back in 2008 it promised $6.2 billion in funding for the auto sector. Over 13 years it was called the New Car Plan for a Greener Future. By 2011 the cash for clunkers program was gone and the Green Car Innovation Fund was cut from $1.3 billion to only $439 million. The LPG vehicle scheme was cut by $96 million. Of course, we know that Labor slugged the car industry with $840 million in carbon taxes over a decade and $1.8 billion in FBT changes. Just before the last election, former Prime Minister Kevin Rudd joined the member for Corio and Darren Cheeseman, the former member for Corangamite, in Geelong and he promised $2 billion, despite the fact that Ford had shut up shop with its manufacturing and Holden was also on its knees. Here was the government recklessly throwing another $2 billion, irrespective of the fortunes of the industry.

Our government's focus is on what we can do for jobs. We recognise that we need to invest in the jobs of the future. We are doing that by investing in infrastructure. The East West Link project that I have referred to has $3 billion from the federal government. The western section will be an enormous boost for our economy. There is $2.9 billion of federal funding for the regional rail link. Yes, of course some was contributed by the previous government, but between 2013 and 2014 another $1.12 billion is in the budget and in this year's budget there is $331 million. So there is very strong investment by both our government and the previous Labor government in the regional rail link that will make an enormous difference to the people of Geelong.

Planning is underway to duplicate the Princes Highway between Winchelsea and Colac. There are a few issues with the stretch between Waurn Ponds and Winchelsea. It is running a bit behind time. Again this is very important investment in infrastructure and in jobs. There is also our $50 million upgrade of the Great Ocean Road, combined with $25 million from the state. That is another infrastructure project that Labor opposed.

Let us look at our investment in advanced manufacturing. I reflect on the member for Gellibrand's ill-informed comments about the growth fund. The Commonwealth is contributing $101 million of a $155 million growth fund. That is contributing—clearly the member for Gellibrand had not read his notes—$30 million for skills and training, a $20 million automotive diversification program, $60 million for a next-generation manufacturing investment fund and $30 million for a regional infrastructure fund. So there will be very significant investment in skills and training.

The Geelong Region Innovation and Investment Fund is also making very significant contributions to jobs in my region, and delivering, once again, hundreds of jobs. Locally, we have recently launched our $500,000 Geelong Employment Connections program and a terrific series of workshops called the Front Foot. As well, we have recently funded the Jobs for Geelong Jobs Fair, because we are also focused at the grassroots level on what we can do to help manufacturing workers transition into the jobs for the future.

And there are enormous opportunities through our $484 million Entrepreneurs' Infrastructure program and $476 million—nearly half a billion dollars!—in our Industry Skills Fund. Our Work for the Dole program has been received very positively in the Geelong region, where there are some pressures on certain sectors of the employment market, because that is a program that will help develop skills as well as confidence. There is relocation assistance for jobseekers of up to $9,000 and a jobs commitment bonus of $6,500 for young people who remain in work for two years.

Then, for employees aged 50 and over who have been on income support there is a $10,000 restart bonus for businesses employing older employees. So, whether it is in infrastructure, our investment in advanced manufacturing or in our many programs which are working to help people get into work, our government is making a very strong investment in the jobs for the future.

I have enormous confidence that the Geelong region will become a premier hub for advanced manufacturing—for smart manufacturing. If you look at industries like the Carbon Nexus investment and a wonderful company called Carbon Revolution you see a company that is producing state-of-the-art carbon fibre wheels for the global market. They have identified an area where they can prosper in the auto component sector—where they are leading the world. That is where we need to focus.

As I mentioned, our growth fund, our Geelong Region Innovation and Investment Fund and our $50 million Manufacturing Transition program are all about ensuring that we grow the jobs of the future, because I know that across the Geelong region and in Corangamite there are many men and women who work in manufacturing, who are concerned about their futures.

I want to send a very strong message that, each and every day, as the member for Corangamite I am in there fighting for jobs—whether it is fighting for a half-million dollar fund to roll out a number of local programs to assist workers transition into new opportunities and identify new skills or being part of the Victorian Economic Review Panel. That was the panel chaired by Minister Macfarlane, where we identified the sectors that we need to invest in as a government to ensure that we can continue with the strong jobs growth that we have seen across this country. I commend this bill to the House.

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