Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party, Cabinet Secretary) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On Wednesday, 3 August, in Dandenong I attended the annual general meeting of the South East Melbourne Manufacturers Alliance—SEMMA—to discuss the federal government's plan to move to a clean energy future by putting a price on carbon. SEMMA was established in 2003 and today represents over 180 manufacturers in the south-east of Melbourne. The membership is growing and includes Bombardier Transport, Jayco and Hilton Manufacturing. The south-east of Melbourne is a proud manufacturing and employment hub and this sector is growing, aided by residential growth and infrastructure improvements over recent years.

Many of SEMMA's members are located within my electorate. The businesses they represent are an important part of our local economy. Manufacturers are confronting challenging times at present with a high Australian dollar and record terms of trade. It puts the carbon price into perspective to recognise that the rise in the Australian dollar is 20 times the cost impact a carbon price will represent, according to Treasury modelling.

The cost of a carbon price to manufacturers will be modest. The introduction of the goods and services tax by the Howard government in July 2000 caused a consumer price index increase of 2.5 per cent. The carbon price to be introduced on 1 July 2012 is expected to see an increase to the CPI of only 0.7 per cent. These facts have been conveniently absent from the campaign of fear that has been conducted by Liberal MPs in south-east Melbourne in recent times, including in particular the hysterical misrepresentations from the Member for Indi. People are sick of hearing opposition members talking down manufacturing in our community, creating uncertainty for industry in challenging economic times. This approach completely overlooks our manufacturing sector's resilience over the long term and ignores the fact that our economy is expected to generate 1.6 million additional jobs by 2020.

Manufacturers in my electorate have asked me how much the carbon price will cost them, what support is offered to emissions-intensive industries and what initiatives will be established in moving to more energy efficient practices in industry. The AGM was an opportunity for me to answer their questions. Many businesses in the south-east of Melbourne and across Australia are working towards reducing their energy costs. Organisations that have started to innovate and reduce input costs will be in an advantageous position when the carbon price is introduced.

I would like to thank outgoing SEMMA president, Russell LaCombre, for his work over the past 12 months and welcome newly elected president Lyndon Joss, who held this role in the early days of SEMMA. I would also like to thank Paul Dowling, the chief executive officer of SEMMA, for enabling me to address SEMMA's AGM. Mr Dowling is an excellent representative of manufacturers in the south-east of Melbourne and I look forward to working with him to promote the interests of manufacturing in south-east Melbourne. (Time expired.)

Bruce Scott (Maranoa, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In accordance with standing order 193 the time for member constituency statements has concluded.