Tanya Plibersek (Sydney, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Acting Prime Minister, and I refer to the Prime Minister's promise to create one million jobs over the next five years. Given that many thousands of jobs are at risk at companies such as Holden, Simplot, Electrolux, Rio Tinto in Gove, the CSIRO and Qantas, how many new jobs will the government commit to by 2016?

Warren Truss (Wide Bay, National Party, Leader of the Nationals) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We heard in question time today about the 200,000 jobs that Labor lost while it was in office. There were 200,000 people added to the unemployment queue because of Labor's policies. When it comes to, say, the car industry, Labor gave Ford $34 million saying that it would create 300 extra jobs, but eight months later 330 employees lost their jobs. That was the effectiveness of Labor's policy. They gave $215 million to Holden, saying it would secure their future in Australia until 2022, but within months 670 jobs were lost.

The reality is that Labor's inconsistent and incoherent industry policies were a constant threat to the jobs of Australian workers during their entire time in office. What we are proposing for Australia is a different direction: a country that is governed logically and sensibly; that deals carefully with the decision-making processes; that has plans to deliver a stable environment so that people will want to invest in this country—a country free of carbon taxes and mining taxes which have led overseas investors to say that this is not a country where you can invest with any degree of security.

By providing the kind of environment that rewards investment and rewards achievement we will encourage Australian businesses and Australian industry to employ more Australians. That is our commitment—the commitment we made at the time of the election and the commitment we intend to deliver.