Mrs Bronwyn Bishop (Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have received a letter from the honourable member for Maribyrnong, the Leader of the Opposition, proposing that a definite matter of public importance be submitted to the House for discussion, namely:

The Government’s failure to have any plan to fight for Australian jobs particularly those jobs recently lost in the manufacturing sector

I call upon those members who approve of the proposed discussion to rise in their places.

More than the number of members required by the standing orders having risen in their places—

Bill Shorten (Maribyrnong, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Australians who have been following politics this week could be forgiven for thinking that the government lives in a parallel universe to ordinary Australians. What an out of touch mob they have demonstrated themselves to be this week. We have had the worst week for Australian job losses for a very long time. We have had the worst rate of unemployment reported in a decade, in fact since the Prime Minister was last employment minister. In Australia, we are confronted with the unambiguous fact that one Australian has lost their job every three minutes under this Abbott government. I can understand that the Abbott government do not want to talk about unemployment. Whilst they are not talking about it, I cannot understand why they are not at least working on a plan for unemployment. Instead, we hear the Prime Minister of Australia almost in breach of the Trade Practices Act—false and misleading conduct, passing himself off as a Prime Minister—saying he is the worker's best friend. My goodness me, if he is the worker's best friend, they do not need enemies. How on earth can someone protest to be the worker's best friend, the best friend of wage-earning, tax-paying employees in Australia, when 63,000-plus full-time jobs have gone since they came into power? Now, of course, when confronted with this bad news, what does the government do? It reaches for the blame cannon. They blame everyone but themselves. They blame the car industry as being a rust bucket. They blame car workers as being overpaid and uncooperative.

When it came to SPC, they were praying and hoping that a state government would rescue them from their own inconsistent position. Today, we had a question to the Prime Minister in question time that said, 'Prime Minister, you said that you would not give $25 million to attract $160 million of investment for SPC because the company was already making a profit.' He was asked by the Deputy Leader of the Opposition, 'Prime Minister, how is that consistent with giving Cadbury $16 million when their parent company made a $3.9 billion profit?' That is just straightforward hypocrisy. We had the Prime Minister try to hide behind that and call Cadbury a tourist attraction—and, indeed, it is—but what he did not do was read his own press release, which in fact showed that that grant provides for the growing of cocoa trees in Northern Australia. Under this government, you can do tourism in the Northern Territory or Northern Queensland, but you cannot get a manufacturing job anywhere in Australia.

We see a big problem with unemployment in this country. It is a real issue. The government say, 'There was always projected softening in the labour markets, so it was inevitable.' People of Australia know that if you believed that this was inevitable, where is your plan? If you read the projections and simply said, 'Well, it was inevitable; don't look at us; don't blame us; what can we do?' then what good are you? This is a most important point in the debate about unemployment in Australia. If you think that the car industry's demise was inevitable, where is your plan for transition? If you think that the rise in unemployment was inevitable, where is your plan for transition? If you think it was inevitable that 63,000 jobs would be lost—full-time jobs, real jobs, tax-paying jobs, jobs which let families pay the mortgages, the debts and educate their kids—and you think that these things are just the way of the world, what is your plan to do something about it?

Look at Holden—goaded by the Treasurer. What an arrogant and cynical act to goad a car company and say, 'We're not interested in you.' Then they looked at the car component industry. They rushed at the Holden news. I remember the Prime Minister at this dispatch box saying, 'We'll do the right thing by the car component industry.' All he has done is write their funeral notice. Toyota then made their announcement. What did we hear? 'It's the workers' fault.' Then Toyota said, 'It's actually not the employees' fault.' What did the government do then? They said the company was wrong.

Corporate Australia should be on notice that this government will throw you overboard and make your private discussions public just to save the skin of those on the government benches. We see Rio Tinto in Gove—the forgotten people. It was fantastic that we had the Closing the Gap contributions yesterday. But in talking about closing the gap in unemployment in Nhulunbuy, Arnhem Land and Gove Peninsula you do nothing about it. Thousands of people are losing their jobs without so much as a whimper, a whisper or a cry of concern from the government. We get shoulder shrugging and see the issue getting kicked down the road. They are not interested. But it is not good enough.

What concerns me is that this is the government that will look at a set of unemployment statistics and say, 'We have no plan.' Every time we asked them this week, 'What is your plan?' they wanted to refight the last election. The people of Australia will get sick of this lazy government, simply blaming everything on the past and offering no vision for the future. What if we had predicted the end of the car industry at the last election? 'Don't vote for the coalition, don't vote for them in Corangamite, don't vote for them in Deakin and don't vote for them in marginal seats across Australia because, when they get elected, Holden will close, tens of thousands of car component workers will lose their jobs and 1,000 small businesses which supply components will not have companies to supply to.' If we had predicted before the election that Toyota would go, we would have been laughed out of court. The problem is that the truth is even worse than what we imagined. Instead, they simply say that this is the way of the world. They say that nothing can be done, that Australia can no longer compete in manufacturing in the First World in the 21st century.

The problem is the government does not understand that the car industry contributes $600 million directly in R&D. It spends $800 million on computing, on engineering, on technical services. This government is dumbing this country down. They do not understand the value of innovation; they just understand the price of their own political fortunes.

We need to be a nation that builds things. The vision of this government is that we should go back to being a farm and a quarry. They look at the 21st century and want to take us back to the 19th century. They have never seen a manufacturing worker's job they will fight for and they have never seen a well-paid set of workers' conditions which they will have any regard for. And where is their plan? The car industry was not in our projections for unemployment, but it has gone anyway.

Last night 1,300 engineers, white-collar workers, draftspeople, designers—1,300 people in the last 24 hours—were retrenched. Exactly this time 24 hours ago, 1,300 people—who not listening to the platitudes of the lazy crew opposite, not listening to their lack of plans—were just getting on doing their jobs. Do you know what happened to them? They were told, 'You're gone. There is no more money in this company. You are retrenched.' From the Gascoigne to the Kimberley to the Pilbara to Far North Queensland, 1,300 people were sacked—but not in our projections.

Then the government says, 'This is just what happens.' This government says there is no role for government in the creation of jobs. What an abrogation of responsibility. The plan that the government has is to dumb down this country and get rid of the trade training centres. Why didn't we think of that? You need a skilled workforce so you get rid of the trade training centres! We need infrastructure, so what are they doing? They decide not to build any more public sector transport, any more rail in Australia—why didn't we think of making it harder for people to get to work? Then there is the NBN. They want to cut that down and carve it up. Of course, why on earth didn't we think that the NBN contributes nothing to productivity, contributes nothing to our nation's wealth?

The future of this country cannot be taken for granted. With unemployment at six per cent and going up, despite 20 or so questions this week we heard not an answer on jobs—not one 'not answer', not two 'not answers'—none. Twenty times or so they ducked and weaved and dissembled. They blamed employees, they blamed the car industry, they blamed everything except taking a look in the mirror to see the source of some of the misery. I do not hold the government responsible for all the job losses in this country. There are many factors at work. But what I do hold the government responsible for is that they do not have an inch of fight in them. They have a small heart when it comes to fighting for jobs. If those opposite think that all is well in the country and if they pat themselves on the shoulder as they leave parliament this week, then shame on them. Fighting unemployment is the No. 1 task of any government, coalition or Labor. Unemployment is an unmitigated misery and, if the government just wants to say that there is nothing they can do, then that tells me there are two opposition leaders in Australia and no Prime Minister! (Time expired)

Luke Hartsuyker (Cowper, National Party, Assistant Minister for Employment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I welcome the opportunity to speak on this important matter of public importance. In August last year the member for McMahon stood in this chamber and delivered Labor's final economic statement which revealed that unemployment was heading towards 6.25 per cent. We all know that unemployment is a lagging indicator and that what we are debating here today is not the result of five months of coalition government; we are debating the result of six years of Labor mismanagement.

Contrary to the claims of the Leader of the Opposition, we took a comprehensive plan to the Australian people—and here it is—Our Plan: Real Solutions for All Australians. You might have seen that. The Australian people definitely saw that. They voted for that and that is why you are sitting where you are today. The Australian people elected us and threw you out. They elected us to fix Labor's mess. We were elected to address the issue of $123 billion of projected deficits. We were elected to address the issue of a debt that was exploding towards $667 billion. We were elected to implement our plan for a stronger economy and a stronger Australia. We have a plan. We put it to the Australian people. They voted for that plan and all the opposition can do is stand in the way.

The government is all about building a stronger Australia, building a stronger economy and creating jobs. As the Treasurer said earlier today, the budget will be about growth. The G20 is about growth. Our policies are all about a stronger economy which will create new jobs and new opportunities. Some Australian communities and families are doing it tough, but the doom and gloom of the members opposite is only making it worse. We need the opportunity to put our agenda in place. We need the opportunity to get the economic settings right to address the changing nature of the Australian economy. Australia has coped before with change and it will cope into the future.

We have great reasons to be optimistic. There are new opportunities being created all the time by great businesses. Jetstar has expanded its operations in South Australia, creating 120 new positions. Carabella Resources new coalmine in Central Queensland will create 100 new local jobs. Arrium Mining in Whyalla will create an additional 100 jobs and a new packing facility at Erskine Park in Western Sydney will employ 400 people. You do not hear the opposition talking about any of that. They do not want to mention the positives.

The Australian government is investing in new infrastructure that will create new jobs and build the economy. The East West Link will support 3,200 jobs during construction. WestConnex will support 10,000 jobs during construction and the Pacific Highway, a vitally important project on the east coast of Australia, will support some 8,600 jobs. The Australian economy is creating jobs, but we can do much more if we remove unnecessary taxes and unnecessary red tape and get the economy back in the black. The best thing that government can do for workers and job seekers is to build a strong economy and this economy in transition is no different. We have no choice but to adapt to the challenges that we face.

The government is implementing a policy agenda that encourages and unleashes the potential of Australian businesses. That is why we are scrapping the carbon tax that is weighing so heavily on Australian businesses; that is why we are scrapping the mining tax that is putting so much pressure on mining companies; that is why we are slashing red tape, lowering taxes and imposing the rule of law in the construction industry with the reintroduction of an ABCC with real teeth that can ensure that we have a productive and lawful sector. The carbon tax adds up to $400 to the cost of every vehicle produced in this country. How can members opposite possibly claim that they are somehow supporting the car industry when they are continuing to maintain a carbon levy on every car that rolls off the production line? We are scrapping the mining tax which will help restore confidence in the Australian mining sector.

With the reintroduction of the ABCC, we will see better efficiency in the construction industry, we will see a better working environment on our construction sites and we will see more confidence to invest in new developments. The ABCC, when it was introduced by the Howard government, created at least $6 billion per year in benefits to the community and significantly increased productivity in the construction industry. What have the members to fear from a lawful construction industry? I guess they have their union cronies to fear. That is probably why they are against it. They have their union cronies to fear. They are just puppets dancing to the tune set by their union cronies and that is why they are opposing the ABCC.

If we make it easier for Australian businesses to create jobs and make it easier for them to invest by building confidence, that is the way we will build a stronger economy. Sadly, Labor is more about pointing fingers than being part of the solution. Labor has a choice to make. They can join with the opposition and build a stronger economy or they can continue to oppose. How can they go down the streets in their electorate and say that maintaining the carbon tax is good for you—

Mark Dreyfus (Isaacs, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Attorney General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Have you forgotten that you are the government? I know you have forgotten that you are the government!

Luke Hartsuyker (Cowper, National Party, Assistant Minister for Employment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We are indeed the government and the Australian people are very pleased we are the government, and they have made you the opposition. When you go down the streets of your electorate, I hope you are explaining to people how the carbon tax is good for them and how paying higher electricity bills is good for them. Go into a business that uses a lot of electricity and tell them why pushing up their costs of doing business is good for them. I do not think they will believe you. You should talk to mining companies and tell them how the mining tax is good for them. You should talk to construction workers and tell them why having thuggery and lawlessness and bullying is good for them.

One thing members opposite seem to forget with regard to the car industry is that Mitsubishi left on their watch. We were not in government when Mitsubishi left. Ford made the announcement that they were leaving on Labor's watch. Those opposite seem to have forgotten that. Do you remember that, member for McMahon? Do you remember that Ford announced that they were leaving the country on your watch? You are sitting there quietly. You are not often quiet, member for McMahon. He has nothing to say. Ford left on your watch. We heard all the claims about Ford.

Let me read you something about Ford. In 2012, Julia Gillard announced $34 million for Ford, saying it would create 300 new jobs. Only a short time later, what happened? Three hundred and thirty employees lost their jobs inside eight months. Then it got far worse. Julia Gillard announced $215 million for Holden, saying it would secure Holden's future in Australia—until when, 2020? No—2022! But only months later, 670 jobs were lost. The Leader of the Opposition seems to claim that Labor would be the saviour of the car industry. If history is any indication, they could not save Mitsubishi and they could not stop Ford announcing that they were leaving the country, but somehow the Leader of the Opposition expects us to believe that they could have saved the car industry. The reality is that these are commercial decisions made by commercial companies and they are the result of a long-term period of transition that is disadvantageous to that industry in Australia.

I hope that the opposition will change their tune. I doubt it, but I hope they will change their tune. I hope they will give the Australian workers a break. I hope that they will get behind the government and support the abolition of the carbon tax. I hope they will get behind the government and support the abolition of the mining tax and support the reintroduction of the ABCC so that we can have the return of the rule of law. I hope that they will support our budget measures, which will help to bring the budget back into the black. And I would really hope that they would support their own budget measures on which they seem to have changed their mind.

I end my contribution with a plea to the Leader of the Opposition: I would hope that he would put as much effort into supporting the jobs of hardworking Australians as he does into supporting the interests of dodgy unionists.

Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

We heard the Prime Minister again today at the dispatch box solemnly assuring Australians that the government would keep all their solemn election promises, apart from the ones they will not, apparently keep. There was one election promise that the assistant minister waved around, the plan for Australia. Included in that plan for Australia is a solemn pledge to create one million jobs over the next five years—a key election promise of the government.

We know from a leak inside the Liberal Party—I am not going to allege who it was—that this was a pledge made up by the then Leader of the Opposition. We know from inside the Liberal Party that they had no modelling to show that they could create a million jobs over five years. They had no basis in their policies for that commitment; they just plucked the figure of one million out of the air. Nevertheless, it is in writing. The now Prime Minister says you can only believe what he says if it is in writing—those are his words. Well, it is in writing, in their plan for Australia—their key pledge to create one million jobs over the next five years. Let us get a little update on how that is going. How is that coming along? We have had an update in today's unemployment figures. We know that, in January, 7,100 full-time jobs were lost across Australia.

I accept that monthly figures move around, monthly figures will go up and down and you cannot read too much into one monthly figure. I completely accept that. But here we have a trend. Since the last election 54,000 full-time jobs had been lost before today. When you add today's announcement, we go to well over 60,000 full-time jobs lost since the election. There has not been a month since the election in which there has been a full-time job created in Australia.

Last year we saw 68,000 full-time jobs lost across the country. That is a very substantial figure. I will tell you how substantial it is. In 2009, when we faced the worst of the global financial crisis, we lost fewer full-time jobs than that in a whole year. In less than six months under this government we have lost more full-time jobs than were lost all through 2009. In fact, another telling fact is that there were more full-time jobs lost last calendar year than in any year since 1992. What a shame for Australia. All through the Asian financial crisis and the global financial crisis, we saw more jobs lost last calendar year than in any year since 1992.

I do not assert that every single job lost since the election is the fault of the new government. Of course there are different forces at work in the economy. But this Prime Minister made a solemn pledge to create a million jobs and he has an obligation to have a plan to do so. We just heard about the plan from the assistant minister at the dispatch box. This so-called plan is on replay all the time.

Luke Hartsuyker (Cowper, National Party, Assistant Minister for Employment) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Here it is!

Chris Bowen (McMahon, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Treasurer) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

That is the plan he is holding up and waving around. It says a million jobs. The problem is the Prime Minister's rhetoric which says: 'It's okay. Jobs come; jobs go. Some jobs get created; other jobs get lost.' The trouble is that jobs are not being created across the economy. The jobs lost at SPC, Holden, Toyota or Ford are not being replaced with other jobs being created across the economy because we see the figures in net terms.

But it is up to the government to explain their plan. How does their plan create a million jobs? How does it create jobs by increasing the tax on small business? Small business, we often hear, is the engine of the economy, and that is right. This government's policy is to increase tax on small business. How does it create jobs to put a levy on big business? We are going to abolish the instant asset write-off, which is a tax increase on small business, and we are going to put a levy on big business. How is that going to create jobs? How does it create jobs to abolish the schoolkids bonus, which families across the nation use to fund expenditure and creates economic activity at the same time? How does it create jobs for this government to embark on cutbacks? The assistant minister said it is our obligation to support their cuts. Well, the cuts never created a job. (Time expired)

Melissa Price (Durack, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to 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.

Nick Champion (Wakefield, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

From Elizabeth to Nhulunbuy and from Altona to Western Australia—from south to north and from east to west—we have a country that is reeling from the job losses that have been caused by the actions and the inaction of this government. You never saw headlines like 'Road to recession' under Labor. You never saw a headline like that during the GFC, because we kept jobs growth strong. We never saw a headline like that.

It is this government that is undermining economic confidence by getting rid of the schoolkids bonus, by putting taxes on small businesses, by upsetting people and by destroying industries. We have seen it all too clearly in my community, in Elizabeth, because we remember the headline from 11 December: 'Hockey dares GM to leave'. That was in The Australian Financial Review. The very next day, on 12 December, it had the headline 'Holden's dramatic exit puts Toyota at risk'. So there should be no surprises for those opposite about what happened and about who was responsible, because we know. The financial paper of this country, The Financial Review, told us in its headlines who was responsible, who issued the ultimatums and who clicked over the first domino: first Holden goes, then Toyota goes and then the entire automotive component industry goes—thousands of jobs right around the country.

We have seen today the Victorian government having to step in, play the role of the national government and save SPC and a whole economic ecosystem around Shepparton—not just factory workers, who this lot blame for the currency and for every other economic problem this country has. We had the Victorian government having to come in, play the role of the national government and save SPC, save factory workers and save farmers.

Now Holden and Toyota have announced their closure. Those opposite want us to believe this $100 million is going to stretch right across the country to somehow compensate for and repair the damage that is being done. We will see a range of automotive component companies go, one after another. What we hear, rather than a plan, is platitudes. It stretches across industries: cars, alumina, whitegoods and food production. In South Australia we see shipbuilding looking down the barrel of the valley of death.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

And in Victoria.

Nick Champion (Wakefield, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

And in Victoria.

Sharon Claydon (Newcastle, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

And in Newcastle.

Nick Champion (Wakefield, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

And in Newcastle. My colleagues are helping me, which is good. We have seen mining construction and mining services start to dip.

George Christensen (Dawson, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Why did that happen?

Nick Champion (Wakefield, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Our friend over there might tell us about the ethanol industry and what might happen to them. We might see what happens to them.

This is a government with no policy on jobs. They have a figure but they have no policy. All they have is aggression, bullying, lectures, platitudes and blame. When all of that is finished, the Prime Minister comes in here and has no answers at all. So, when I ask him a question about what is the difference between unemployment in Denison and unemployment in Wakefield, what answer do I get? 'Refer to my previous answers.' That is not good enough. I remember seeing those opposite, back when I was at university, castigating Prime Minister Keating for not turning up to question time and answering questions. This Prime Minister turns up and just does not answer the questions. So it as an interesting approach: bullying, lectures, platitudes, finger pointing at workers and then not showing up. We saw the Treasurer giving us lectures about Abdul the kebab shop owner. I wonder how kebab shops are doing in Elizabeth, Shepparton, Orange or Altona, because you have to actually sell your kebabs to be able to update your oven, and under the previous government you got loss carry-back anyway, which might have helped you buy that.

We get no answers and no plan. All we get is blame and aggression from those opposite, particularly directed at the victims of their economic incompetence, which is the most tragic thing. From Elizabeth to Nhulunbuy, south to north, and from Altona to Western Australia, east to west, we see the consequences of this government's actions.

Angus Taylor (Hume, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

This is not a socialist economy, in contrast to what many from the other side of the House might believe. Businesses create jobs, not governments. The coalition's plan is for half a million jobs in the next five years and a million jobs in the next 10, and we will do that by supporting the private sector, not by growing the public sector as the last government did. This means lower taxes, less and better regulation, more spending on infrastructure, less waste and reduced government expenditure to prevent crowding out of the private sector and private businesses. This means a better environment for small businesses, engendering the confidence required to encourage investment and employment.

Many are asking what sectors are going to provide those jobs. The good news is that we laid out that direction before the last election. I know those on the other side never accepted that, because it was not a Soviet-style five-year plan. But we recognised that these jobs would come from building on our strengths, not propping up our weaknesses. We know that job creation will come from fostering fast-growing markets to our north—in agriculture, in mining, in manufacturing innovation, in education, in tourism and in advanced services.

Let me expand on a couple of these opportunities that, clearly, the member for Wakefield does not want to hear about. In my electorate we see enormous strength in manufacturing innovation. In Cowra, in the western part of my electorate, Brumby Aircraft is manufacturing highly innovative light aircraft and is starting to export those aircraft into China. Brumby is innovative, smart, leading edge and a wonderful example of what Australia is capable of. But Brumby needs market access, supportive regulation and access to investment. All of these things are things that this government can deliver and the last government could not.

In contrast to what those opposite obviously believe, we see enormous potential in our traditional strengths of mining, agriculture and energy. There is much discussion about the potential to continue to grow our export markets for food, fibre, minerals and gas, particularly as we release the pressure on the dollar from the profligate government spending that we saw from the last government. Unfortunately, policies from the last government did enormous damage to those sectors. Whether it was the mining tax, the shutdown of live exports or the impact of the carbon tax, they were hostile to our traditional strengths. Meanwhile, these markets for food, fibre, energy and minerals are growing at an unprecedented rate.

With the wonderful focus on market access driven by our Minister for Trade and Investment, I am confident that our ability to continue to create jobs and prosperity in these sectors is assured. But I want to focus for a moment not just on our commodity exports but on our service providers in these sectors. The importance of the commodity support sectors is not yet widely understood. I want to quote from a report that I recently co-authored in my work prior to coming to this place, a report called Earth, fire, wind and water:

The growth of domestic and export support sectors on the back of commodity industry growth is an important and untold story in the Australian economy.

And it has many miles yet to run—

Given the right policy settings—

And we are clearly setting those up now—

the opportunity for the service cluster may prove to be larger than the underlying commodity sector growth.

Many of the support services businesses are ‘buried’ in larger businesses …

Many of the faster growing players in the services sector are still private. Most have emerged only recently from modest beginnings, and have not needed external equity capital to support their growth (at least until now).

Firms in these service sectors are often small and growing fast, which means they are inclined to stay out of public debates. The noisiest sectors are often those hosting large business organisations that are facing decline. Ain't that the truth! The commodity sectors directly employ around 450,000, but these service sectors are already employing about 250,000 in addition.

Better known companies include Orica, in explosives; Incitec Pivot, in fertiliser; Skilled, in labour hire; Campbell Brothers, in testing services; Worley Parsons, in engineering; and a host of software companies. Many of these companies are growing faster offshore than onshore and are establishing global positions with Australian employees, based on based on unique capabilities, developed in their home market of Australia.

Only our macroeconomic and microeconomic settings will ensure that this job creation happens and that it translates into new jobs in electorates like mine.

Jim Chalmers (Rankin, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Parliamentary Secretary to the Leader of the Opposition) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The unemployment rate was lower under Labor in the depths of the global financial crisis than it is under the Liberal Party during a global recovery. That is the fact today, with the release of the labour market statistics. Yet there is no plan from the government to deal with this fact. If your name is Peter Costello or if your name is Tim Wilson, the labour market has really turned up since the election of the Abbott government, but for everyone else it has gotten worse. That is the reality of today's job market.

It has been a devastating week in the labour market in Australia. It has been a week that proved that this government are determined to be part of the problem and not part of the solution. What we have is a government that are determined to chase jobs away to satisfy this extreme ideology of theirs—this scorched earth ideology that says to workers, whether they are in the manufacturing sector or elsewhere, 'You're on your own.' And every time the government think that they are striking a blow for ideological purity, the reality is that it strikes at the heart of the Australian workforce.

Never before has an industry minister or an employment minister had such a detrimental impact on industry and employment in such a short time in office. Never before have a Prime Minister and a Treasurer—who say Australia is open for business—chased so many businesses away in such a short time. Speakers before me have gone through why this has been an awful week. On Monday, we had the Toyota announcement. We had all kinds of demeaning things said about workers by the Treasurer and others in this House. And today it has culminated in the release of some pretty bad unemployment figures. You would think, with all this going on, we would get more than the smirking arrogance that we get in question time from those opposite. You would think that we would get more than crocodile tears about workers in Australia. You would think that we would get some kind of plan. Instead, we get this really cruel and callous indifference to the plight of the Australian worker.

Their message this week to workers is: 'Yes, there have been job losses and, yes, it is all your fault.' This side of the House does not blame the workers for the situation that so many of them find themselves in. It is not enough to wander around in a high-vis vest during an election campaign and say that you care about jobs. It is not enough to have a fancy, glossy brochure that says that there will be a million new jobs in five years. That is not enough. It is not enough to come in here and cry your crocodile tears about Australian workers. You need to have a plan.

The reason that Cadbury got the money they got is that they asked for it during an election campaign. The reason SPC did not get it and the reason manufacturing workers are in such strife is that the election has been and gone and these guys have been elected. That is the difference between Cadbury and so many other companies in Australia.

This week we saw the true colours of those opposite. We saw the mask slip a little bit when it comes to how they feel about Australian workers. It actually began when the Treasurer stood over there and, in a remarkable thing for a Treasurer to do, dared a big Australian company to leave our shores. He stood over there and beat his chest, and then, all through The Financial Review, we read all the sycophants on that side saying how great he was, how ideologically pure he was. That set in train a sequence of events that culminated in Toyota hitting the fence earlier this week. As other speakers have said, this will have devastating consequences for components manufacturers right through Australia.

It is not well known that there are 7,000 Queenslanders employed in the automotive manufacturing sector. It is important that we recognise the South Australian and Victorian contributions to that industry, but right around Australia there are people making components. In my own electorate there are 508 people employed in this sector. I know from talking to a lot of them that they are mostly involved in electronic manufacturing for cars. That is something we want them in; that is a good job to be in—helping make electronics for cars. There are 508 of them, and their jobs are at risk. It would be cold comfort for them to hear what I thought was probably the low point of the week, which was when the Minister for Industry came in here and said, 'It's not a catastrophe.'

It is a catastrophe when people lose their jobs, when they have to explain to their families that they are not going to have a job, that it is going to be hard to find a new one. Not everyone gets re-employed immediately, or even at all. That is a catastrophe for a lot of people. The industry minister should go to the industrial part of my electorate and say to them that it is not a catastrophe. The biggest difference between our side and that side is our approach to jobs: nearly a million created during a global financial crisis; more than 63,000 already lost by those opposite in just five months.

Michelle Landry (Capricornia, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Nobody likes to hear about someone losing their job. Nobody likes getting that type of news from their boss. The opposition have been barking loudly about job losses in Victoria, but they need to look at the role they have directly played in obstructing job growth in other parts of the country. There is another, more important part of this country, and it is called Queensland. The issue of job losses in my seat of Capricornia is a serious one too. But the opposition do not talk about Queensland, because their plan for job creation was to introduce the carbon tax and the mining tax. What a terrific plan! Do you want to know what it has done for job creation? While everyone harps on about job losses in the car sector, mining companies report that in Queensland alone their industry has lost 11,000 mining related jobs in the past year or more. This government only took up office five months ago. Do the maths. The mining sector was bleeding under Labor's reckless carbon tax for some time. One company told me it would pay $46 million—

George Christensen (Dawson, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

How much?

Michelle Landry (Capricornia, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

$46 million—as a direct result of the carbon tax and potentially millions more in indirect costs associated with the tax. This is a tax their competitors overseas do not face. The carbon tax is the equivalent of loading up a pack horse with 10 tonnes of bricks. It inhibits the potential for resource companies to use that money to invest in growth that might lead to more jobs. For some reason, the Labor Party wants to keep that tax in place.

The live cattle trade is another example of a Labor plan that has destroyed job growth in the bush. One night, as we all slept, the Labor Party shut down Australia's cattle export trade. There was no warning. Cattle producers lost their marketplace. Farm workers lost their jobs. Livestock truck drivers lost their jobs. Cattle buyers lost their jobs. People on the shipping terminals lost their jobs. And the blokes who deliver the cattle drench lost their jobs. Our cattle producers in Capricornia are still paying for that plan. Cattle that could no longer be shipped overseas were flooded onto the domestic market, causing beef prices to plummet. If the cattle industry had been left to prosper, people might still have those types of jobs.

Then there is our local abattoir, Teys Australia. This meat processor is among Rockhampton's biggest employers, providing more than 1,000 jobs. They too pay carbon tax. In fact, it has cost the local abattoir nearly $1.8 million in direct and indirect costs associated with this reckless tax. As their customers do not pay for the carbon tax, this money effectively comes out of the pockets of Australian cattle producers via reduced prices that the meat processor can pay for cattle. How many more jobs could be created here if there was no carbon tax?

As Toyota drivers might say, 'Oh what feeling!' Oh what a feeling of shame, that is—a feeling of shame that Labor is destroying opportunities for jobs growth through its carbon tax. The best thing our government can do for the workers in Australia is to build a stronger, more prosperous economy. That is why we are committed to scrapping Labor's carbon tax.

Joanne Ryan (Lalor, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Just like Labor members speaking before me today, I have an electorate that depends upon manufacturing. More Wyndham residents work in manufacturing than in any other industry: 10.6 per cent of local people work as machine operators and drivers, which is almost double the national average and represents more than 10,000 workers, and 15 per cent work in related industries as tradespeople and technicians, constituting another 15,000 local residents. So Monday's announcement regarding Toyota was a heavy blow for my community, not just for those working directly for Toyota but for those in components industries and those working for related small businesses. What the government do not seem to understand is that the economy is akin to an ecosystem and when you rip huge holes in it the shockwaves spread.

This will spread across our community: to the contracted technicians and cleaners who depend upon work from Toyota; to those who work in the laundries that service the Toyota plant; even to those who work in the local cafe where Toyota employees stop for their morning coffee. The list goes on and on and extends deep into the families and communities of my electorate and into Melbourne's west as a whole. This will hurt husbands, wives, partners and children, neighbours and friends. Many will already be facing financial stress, struggling to meet mortgage or rent payments and pay for groceries. This is yet another burden to bear.

I know that this is a sentiment being felt around the country, by Holden workers in Elizabeth, by those at Rio Tinto in Nhulunbuy, by SPC employees in Shepparton. The Australian manufacturing industry is hurting and Australian workers are hurting. Yet we have a government that simply does not seem to care, a government so irresponsible they fail to intervene time and time again, even when it will cost hundreds of thousands their livelihood. This back-to-the-future government will take us back to a country that only exports raw materials, like we did last century. This government that cares so little for Australian workers is willing to break promise after promise. I draw your attention to the statement the Prime Minister made on 28 November 2012:

… I am committing a future coalition government to creating one million new jobs within five years and two million new jobs over the next decade.

But then, yesterday or the day before, Mr Abbott said in this very chamber, 'Governments do not create jobs,' and he has no plan for manufacturing jobs. So which is it, Prime Minister? Is this your solemn promise?

If you think it could not get any worse, Mr Deputy Speaker, you would be wrong. Not only have they broken yet another solemn promise to workers; they are now blaming them and demonising them when they lose their jobs. It is easy to swan around parliament in the air conditioning and plush surrounds while at the same time complaining that manufacturing workers have it too easy. Their attitude seems to be: 'They earn too much. They ask too much.' Really? Is a worker who wants fair wages and conditions asking too much?

Would the Prime Minister be willing to look Toyota workers, Holden workers and SPC workers in the eye this week and tell them they earn too much? Of course he would not, because bullies are really cowards. Instead of bullying Australian workers, maybe the Abbott government should examine its conscience. What kind of government attacks people who have just lost their jobs and spreads misinformation about the conditions of workers so as to mitigate their own responsibility? The answer is just across the chamber.

The Prime Minister must ask himself these questions and more. Who is he really governing for? If it is not for hardworking Australians, if it is not small businesses and if it is not for Australian industries, then who? A government that believes in a fair, just and more prosperous Australia with opportunity for all would not be doing this. It just would not. We see the starkest contrast between the Liberal and Labor parties. We support workers; they do not. We support the manufacturing industry; they do not. We believe in Australian jobs, and it is clear that they do not. I call on the Abbott government to step up to support these workers and to just plain care. I call on the government to commit to securing jobs and training for those affected by their irresponsible and callous decision making, because these workers need opportunities, not to join the unemployment queue.

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

I have a message for our nation and for the people I represent in the federal electorate of Corangamite. We are fighting for jobs, we are fighting for a bright future in manufacturing and we are fighting for opportunity. We have just heard comments from the member for Lalor, who I note is leaving the chamber, obviously not wanting to stay around to hear what we have to say. We do have the answers. That is why the Australian people rejected Labor at the last election. Some of the comments that were just made were utterly offensive. We all acknowledge that everyone in this chamber on both sides wants jobs, but the problem with Labor is that they failed.

For workers of Toyota, Holden and Ford, and their families, this is a very tough time. As a government, we are determined to build a strong and prosperous economy, a safe and secure Australia. We are determined to abolish the carbon tax and the mining tax, to end the waste, to slash red tape and to get the nation's finances back on track. Let us never forget Labor's legacy to this nation. Over the forward estimates we are staring in the face of $123 billion in cumulative deficits and government debt of $667 billion. As economic managers, the people of Australia has given Labor a big F. That is F for fail. Our job, as a government which understands the importance of responsible economic management, is to get our country back on track. Part of that challenge is to build the confidence of business to invest, to grow and to employ. Labor destroyed that confidence with its jobs-destroying carbon tax and its jobs-destroying mining tax. Labor destroyed that confidence with its waste and incompetence.

I also want to draw your attention, Mr Deputy Speaker to the words of the member for Corio, who claims that we will be a dumber nation when we stop making cars. These words are typical of what we are hearing from the other side—the negativity and the dragging down of our nation. They drag down the fine men and women who work in our auto industry, who, with retraining and support—which is what we will do—will have the skills and know-how to go from strength to strength. This negativity does us enormous damage.

Let us not forget that under Labor 130,000 jobs were lost in manufacturing. Let us talk about jobs under Labor. In my region, 510 workers from Ford lost their job under Labor. They said they had a plan, but they monumentally failed to save Ford. Their plan simply did not work. At Boral there were 90 jobs lost, and at Fonterra there were 130 jobs lost, and, let me assure you, the carbon tax on manufacturing was one of the major factors because it drives up the cost of energy and that drives up the cost of manufacturing.

What are we doing? We have a $100 million growth fund underpinned by the work of the Industry and Manufacturing Economic Review Panel. We are focused on the challenges, but we are focused on what we can do: investing in advanced manufacturing, food processing, IT and communications. In my region, we have the Geelong Region Innovation and Investment Fund, a $24.5 million fund there to directly grow jobs. We are building the roads of the 21st century, investing in infrastructure, duplicating the Princes Highway, upgrading the Great Ocean Road and investing in science, innovation and agriculture through initiatives like the Geelong Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases and the Golden Plains intensive agricultural precinct.

We have a bright future in manufacturing. Do not allow the Labor Party to drag our nation down. We are doing some amazing work in Geelong in carbon fibre production, and we are bringing the headquarters of the National Disability Insurance Agency—and, yes, the NDIA was an initiative of the previous government—to Geelong. Today I was with a delegation headed by the City of Greater Geelong Mayor, Councillor Darryn Lyons. We are fighting tooth and nail for a big part of the LAND 400 Defence project, a $10 billion project, and we are not giving up. We have a great deal of confidence, and through our policies we will build the jobs of the future. We will not be dragged down by Labor's negativity and we will not be dragged down by the way that they are telling us that they do not have the solutions. I can tell you that, after the last six years, it has been a monumental failure and we are working very hard to turn that around.

Bruce Scott (Maranoa, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! As there are no more speakers—the time has not quite expired—the discussion has concluded.