Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Prime Minister. If the Prime Minister is so concerned about a lack of Australian steel being used in Australian mines, why does the government want to increase the cost of Australian steel by imposing a carbon tax that our main competition, Chinese steelmakers, do not have to pay?

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I say to the shadow Treasurer that he may want to do a bit of research and he may want to talk to people in the steel industry. He may want to speak specifically to the CEO of BlueScope and the CEO of OneSteel, and he may want to speak to them specifically about the way in which the government worked through their concerns with carbon pricing. He may want to bother doing some reading and when he does that reading he should read through the statements they made when the carbon-pricing package was announced. And he may want to do some reading on what BlueScope said when it announced job losses earlier this week, that it was not to do with carbon pricing. Then he may want to reflect on the question of hypocrisy and whether you should come into this parliament pretending you care about steelworker jobs when you are going to come into this parliament in the next few sitting weeks and put your hand up against $300 million of assistance for steelworkers.

Let's be absolutely clear about this—absolutely clear to the workers at BlueScope and the workers beyond: this side of the parliament will come in here and vote for a $300 million transformation plan. We are determined to deliver assistance to them, and we will deliver assistance to them. Those on the other side should be judged on how they vote on that piece of legislation. The shadow Treasurer will come in and put his hand in the air and say, 'I don't care at all about steelworking jobs; I don't care about them at all.' That is what he will do with his vote in the parliament, just like he did during the global financial crisis, where he came in and said, 'I don't care about the jobs of Australians,' and just as the opposition will in the minerals resource rent tax debate, where Australians will see profitable mining companies, and that is a good thing. They will see results like they saw with BHP today, and they are a good thing. They will see a turbocharged, highly profitable industry, and the shadow Treasurer and the Leader of the Opposition will come into this parliament and they will vote against the minerals resource rent tax. They will deny other companies and small businesses a tax cut, they will deny Australian workers a superannuation increase and they will deny Australians more infrastructure.

So, for the shadow Treasurer, I am very happy to debate economic credentials and supporting Australian jobs with him any day of the week. In the global financial crisis we acted and saved jobs; you recommended doing nothing and voted against what we did. We are here engaged with manufacturing and its future; you think manufacturing workers are a good backdrop for a photo opportunity, but otherwise you could not care if they were all made redundant. We are here managing the economy during a period of economic transition, keeping up our credentials as a great free-trading nation, and you are over there flirting with protectionism. Unless we intimidate you out of it—like we had to with the apples bill—you will try to take us out of the World Trade Organisation global rules based order. So it is time the shadow Treasurer actually stumped up and said something sensible about the future of this country.

Joe Hockey (North Sydney, Liberal Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Speaker, I rise on a point of order. It must be a long bow to be drawn between apples and Chinese steel imports. The Prime Minister is clearly not being relevant to the question. I would ask you to draw her back to the question. Just answer one question—one—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for North Sydney will resume his seat.

Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The connection is jobs, and you will never understand it.

Mr Hockey interjecting—

Harry Jenkins (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! The member for Hindmarsh has the call. The member for North Sydney, having been warned, will leave the chamber standing order under 94(a) for one hour.

The member for North Sydney then left the chamber.

I call the member for Hindmarsh. Silence is golden, but he does have 45 seconds.