Graham Perrett (Moreton, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Sadly, I rise to speak about Manmeet Sharma, who so tragically lost his life on Friday 28 October in my home suburb of Moorooka at a bus stop that I walk past every morning when I am at home. Mr Sharma, I am told by his community, was a gentle, kind, creative soul—a leader in Brisbane's Punjabi community who, on that fatal Friday, was just going about his business, serving the greater community of Brisbane as a driver with Brisbane transport. Not long after 9 am, as he drove along Beaudesert Road on the 125 route—a bus that goes almost from my home suburb to right outside my office at Sunnybank—Mr Sharma pulled into the Moorvale shops to collect more passengers. There, he became the subject of a horrific and violent act that ended his life, sadly, and shocked Queensland—shocked the nation—and broke the hearts of my community. Our whole community—the Moorooka community and the broader Queensland community—feels a deep sense of grief for Mr Sharma's loss.

I want to pay tribute to those people who were first on the scene, particularly to the tow-truck driver who stepped out with his fire extinguisher to put out the fire initially, the paramedics who attended, the firefighters and the local police, who rushed to Mr Sharma's aid. I particularly note again Mr Peter Buxton, the passing tow-truck driver, who acted incredibly quickly and helped people to safety. I commend him for his bravery. I also commend Mr Aguek Nyok, who smashed open the bus door. He is a taxi driver who was on his rank, saw the smoke coming from the bus and saved at least six passengers' lives. I understand that his nomination by the Queensland Premier for a bravery award is very well deserved. I am thankful that the Liberal National Party lord mayor, Graham Quirk, working with Councillor Steve Griffiths, has agreed to a memorial in Moorooka so that we can remember Mr Sharma. I thank the local council for this commitment. To my good friend Councillor Steve Griffiths, who was instrumental in organising the community vigil full of care, love and respect, thank you for your leadership, Steve, in this difficult time. To Mr Sharma's family, we offer our deepest sympathies and hope that in time the grief you feel does not weigh so heavily on your hearts.

Russell Broadbent (McMillan, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The House of Representatives I first entered in 1990, I realise, with the benefit of that wonderful thing called hindsight, was a different kind of place to what it is now. For one thing, words still mattered. Speeches mattered. They mattered enough for members to actually listen to them, react to them and engage in real debate. Sometimes what was said in the chamber was even reported. Alas, those days, when parliamentary proceedings were seen as more than today's daily televised sideshow of question time, have passed, but, out of nostalgia, this traditionalist persists with one sliver of those former ways. With each new parliament, I listen with interest to what, apparently, it now is appropriate to call first, rather than maiden, speeches. They provide great insights into new colleagues—their history, their hopes and their aspirations.

So it was, on the last day of the last session back in September, that I sat in the chamber during the adjournment debate waiting to speak on some of the remarkable first speeches delivered earlier in the day. I had prepared to congratulate new members on what were some marvellous, sometimes entertaining and sometimes very moving addresses. But, as I sat waiting for the Speaker's call, my spirit of good humour evaporated as I listened to the member for Dawson deliver what amounted to a diatribe about the rise of Islam in this country. The member's speech was replete with generalisations. There were appeals to fear and prejudice that appalled me. My instinct was at the very least to dissociate myself at the first opportunity. I should have remembered the advice that John Stuart Mill gave 110 years ago:

Bad men need nothing more to compass their ends, than that good men should look on and do nothing.

That I did nothing and said nothing when my turn on the adjournment did come is not something I can be proud of. Controlling my tongue on the basis that saying what I thought would only result in the member for Dawson receiving more attention than his contribution deserved was not the right thing to do; nor was worrying that differences between coalition members would be exploited by our political foes. That had been the response of other members in this and the other chamber to another provocative speech that week, by a new senator from Queensland. She too played on the fears of those Australians feeling economic and social exclusion. She too made those bogus claims that Australia was in danger of being swamped by Muslims—dangerous Muslims who were arriving with their 'violent extremism'; dangerous Muslims who did not share 'Australian values'. Same speech, different house. My silence on the adjournment that night did not prevent the views of the senator and the member for Dawson from being widely circulated. It did not stop their words from further inflaming the views of the prejudiced. It did not stop the government's opponents from exploiting the unfortunately different views that exist on my side of politics.

During the break, I thought long and hard about how to respond to those who encourage division; how to respond to those who exploit fear in the vulnerable and disillusioned for political gain; how to respond to the member for Dawson; and how to politely point out to the Prime Minister that a man who holds an office in the Turnbull government seemingly has views at odds with the Prime Minister's own description of our country in New York recently, when he said:

We are not defined by race, religion or culture but by shared political values of democracy, the rule of law and equality of opportunity—a 'fair go'.

These are noble sentiments, good sentiments and sentiments repeated again last week in the parliament, when the Prime Minister and the Leader of the Opposition spoke as one on the issue. They are the kinds of sentiments that should have replaced my silence.

It was a long and lonely walk before the penny dropped as to why I had not called out the member for Dawson on the spot. The issues swirling in our multicultural nation for me are public and passionate, but for me they are not personal. The truth is I did not act as I should have because I am not Muslim, Chinese, Afghan or Greek looking. I am not Italian, Sri Lankan or Sudanese. I am not Aboriginal. I might have noted in that adjournment speech how the member for Chisholm, Julia Banks, spoke quite passionately about the little girl at school who was called a wog, and how she had to go home, grab her brother's dictionary, look up what 'wog' meant and then deal with the pain of seeing others seeing her as being different because of her darker skin and her dark hair, and how she looked a little different and so was a point of attack. I have not been called a wog, a dago, a Chink or a raghead. You see, I am plain white bread, cut for toast. I was born in the town that Gillian Triggs, the human rights commissioner, said she would never hold a function in: Koo Wee Rup. It might be expected for someone with my background to shrug their shoulders when members of parliament make remarks directed at a particular race or to ignore the hurt those remarks can cause; to defend the members' right to free speech as if that right should be unlimited; and to nod wisely because a member was simply reflecting the views of those who elected them—'Don't blame me; blame them.' It is another of those changes in this place that I referred to earlier: the now prevalent belief that members of parliament should follow, not lead.

For my part, I remain as steadfastly Burkeian in my view of the proper relationship between the elected and their electors as I was those 16 years ago. So I remind you of the words of Edmund Burke, that great parliamentarian:

Your representative owes you, not his industry only, but his judgment; and he betrays, instead of serving you, if he sacrifices it to your opinion.

That is a principle I have always followed. Perhaps remaining true to my conscientiously held beliefs contributed to the 1998 defeat I suffered along the way, just as Ewen Jones paid the ultimate political price in Herbert this year for his stand in always deferring to his better angels on matters of principle. But I believe I enjoy a special relationship with the community I now serve. They may not agree with the positions I take, but they know I am on their side and that I am serving them in the best way I know how.

So, too, all of us in this parliament should reflect on our relationship with the Australian people, and right now it is broken. A bit of humble representation from the powers that be would not hurt. It is time for us to rise above the politics of fear and division, because our love of diversity, difference and freedom will endure. Our love of the rule of law, of respect for one another and of tolerance of each other will endure. Our love of freedom of religion, of freedom of speech and of country will endure. Our love of shared values, of a fair go for all and of shared responsibilities will endure.

At the recent election, the coalition received 42 per cent of the primary vote, while Labor received close to 35 per cent and the Greens received a tick over 10 per cent. Eighty-seven per cent of Australians did not vote for minor parties. Only 1.29 per cent of Australians gave their first preference to Pauline Hanson's One Nation. Family First, the Christian Democratic Party and the Nick Xenophon Team all received a greater vote than One Nation. Why, then, are some on my side of politics prone to cuddling up to Hansonite rhetoric? Those propositions and policies will only hurt the coalition parties in the long run, in the same way that the once great Labor Party is now the captive of the Greens, relying on their preferences to win 31 of their seats in this House.

I understand the fear of Islamic-based terrorism, and the government is responding with every resource available. I understand, as well, the concerns of the Australian people over these issues. I am not immune to the fears that are expressed to me by the people I meet. At the same time, we cannot condemn the whole of the Muslim community for the actions of a crazy, dangerous few. That is not fair. Otherwise, the people who hate all that is good about this nation win, and we are the losers. Australia, we are better than this. We need not walk in the footsteps of the world. We, as a nation, can stand apart—confident, fearless, separated to the better way, together, united and unafraid. Together, we as a people can stem the tide of divisiveness infecting Western countries around the globe. Right here, right now, we can turn to take the higher road, believing in one another to defend against the purveyors of fear and disunity. Let this nation be the circuit-breaker and travel the road of the wise, leaving the foolish to perish in division.

We should always have empathy and consideration for those doing it tough. We must speak to the people in their language about the basic concerns affecting their daily lives. If not, we further push those that feel alienated and disaffected by economic and social exclusion into the arms of the One Nations of this country. As Michael Gordon said in his article in The Age of 30 September:

In other words, the problem in Australia is not with the people, but a leadership more intent on making political points than expressing empathy, or pressing the case that we all gain from an open, inclusive, pluralist society, or addressing inequality, or celebrating the multicultural success stories.

One of them is unfolding this weekend, whether or not the Western Bulldogs raise the Premiership Cup at the MCG: the story of how a club facing extinction survived and thrived by supporting all elements of a community facing multiple challenges. "At a time of widespread institutional weakness, the club is a model of how to win a social licence," says Labor MP Tim Watts.

Back in June, the club celebrated World refugee Day by hosting its 11th annual citizenship ceremony at the Whitten Oval, when 45 migrants and refugees from 21 countries sang the national anthem and then the Bulldogs' club song. Along with their citizenship, they received Bulldogs membership packs.

As club president Peter Gordon strolled among the throng at Thursday's final training session, he recognised many of them in the crowd, joyous, united and prepared to invest without reservation in a dream: the face of modern Australia.

The vast majority of the Australian people fit the Western Bulldogs's view of the world. It is our challenge now to show those who feel alienated and disenfranchised that they also share in a bright future, investing in a dream without reservation. Our responsibility in leadership is to bring those that feel they have been left behind to know that our intention is for all Australians to share in the wealth and opportunity that this nation affords, to feel they have hope for the future and some control of their lives through representative democracy, and to enjoy a sense of belonging so that they can confidently stand firm against those peddling policies of fear and division. The politics of fear and division have never created one job, never come up with a new invention, never started a new business, never given a child a new start in life and never lifted the spirits of a nation.

At this moment, I do not know what Muslims are asked to do. But I know what Christians are asked to do: to do justly, to love mercy and kindness, and to walk humbly with their god.

Ross Vasta (Bonner, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The question is that the address be agreed to. I call the honourable member for Wakefield and congratulate him on the birth of his first child.

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

Thank you, Deputy Speaker; that is very kind of you. It is a great honour to follow the member for McMillan, who made a very fine speech about tolerance and decency in our country and about how best to make sure that tolerance and decency continues. I think he talked very ably about Edmund Burke and his fine contribution to the House of Commons. Interestingly enough, Edmund Burke only lasted two terms in the House of Commons, so I fear his very noble belief about an MP's relationship with their electors was perhaps better in theory than it was in practice! Nevertheless, it serves as an example for all of us, and I think we do have an obligation not just to reflect the passing mood in our electorates but also to reflect our own judgements about what is good for the country. The more of that that is done, the better this place will be, because it forces elected members to reflect on their own principles and make sacrifices sometimes, in the cause of the nation.

The member for McMillan made a very fine contribution to the House tonight, and I hope others pay as much attention to that as is paid to the member for Dawson and others, in the Senate, who grandstand and talk nonsense. Sadly, such is the nature of public discourse and the media machine now. I do not think any of us like it, including those in the media. We all crave more substance, but what we get is, really, the lowest common denominator in public debate, and that does not serve us well. It does not create a job. It does not invent anything. It creates no scientific advantage. On that front, I am as one with the member for McMillan.

It is, of course, a great honour to serve in the House of Representatives for a fourth term in Wakefield, and I am the first Labor member to do so. That is a great privilege. I should reflect that the boundaries in Wakefield have changed somewhat and now include the good people of the northern suburbs, which does help Labor's cause. Of course, there are many places in the mid-north, around where I grew up, which are slowly coming to appreciate me perhaps. A real surprise this election was the very curious result in Freeling, which is a town I had not expected ever to win—a very traditional conservative town. It swung by 9.2 per cent, and I ended up getting 51 per cent in Freeling this year. Dominic Shepley, who runs the Freeling Hotel, tells me I am the only Labor man to be allowed in the front bar of the Freeling Hotel. I think it is a Labor town now! So they will have to adjust, I suppose. I have many good friends there, and I do appreciate their industry and their efforts.

It was a very challenging election for me personally—not just because of the electoral dynamics in South Australia. My wife, Fiona, was pregnant through the campaign. I certainly did curse the Prime Minister—not in a normal way. His timing of the election left a lot to be desired from our personal point of view! I know my electorate and the country did not really appreciate an eight-week campaign, but I can tell you I would never combine the two things again, even though the result was completely joyous. My daughter was born shortly after the election. Fatherhood is an even more unique privilege that one can have, and I have been very blessed with such a beautiful wife and such a beautiful daughter. Every day since has been a great blessing, so before I begin my thankyous I certainly reflect on that.

I have many people to thank: of course, the many electors, both those who supported me and those who did not. I have always had the view that the day after the election I do not care how you voted; I will always meet with people, give them my opinion and expect to get theirs. I do not really care for partisanship on a personal level. I think partisanship belongs in these chambers and it is a good, but it should not really be expressed when it comes to representing your constituents or community. So I have always made a fair bit of effort to be in every bit of my electorate and try and serve them as best I can.

I have to thank my leader, Bill Shorten, and the whole of the Labor Party. It was a magnificent effort by probably the most underestimated Labor leader since Jack Curtin. There is a fair bit of commentary in this business and Bill gets his share, but it was a magnificent campaign. I had the great pleasure to go with Bill to places like Whyalla and other communities, and every time he came to South Australia he was always enjoying it and enjoying the campaign and the opportunity to get out there and engage with the Australian people.

Mr Ramsey interjecting—

I hear the member for Grey interjecting. We put a bit of pressure on him around the place. I know he would prefer it had Labor ran second rather than third, but we will be working to do that. Maybe we will even run first up in Grey and repeat the glorious representation that they have had in the past by Lloyd O'Neil and others.

Of course, there were thousands of volunteers across South Australia, and I have to thank all of mine. I have to thank the union movement, including: the Australian Manufacturing Workers' Union, particularly the vehicle builders division in my electorate; the CEPU, particularly those from the electrical division, a union I am privileged to be a member of and happen to represent in this House; and the SDA, which I am a member of and was an official of. Thank you to all of those unions. Thank you to former senator John Quirke for your help in the campaign. Thank you to my campaign manager, Tom Kenyon, who is a colourful member of the South Australian parliament with very strong views. Tom is a very good organiser and a great marginal seat campaigner. It is good to have a campaign manager who is a contemporary of yours, because at this stage of public office, I suppose, they are the only ones who can really boss you around. Your campaign manager always has to boss you around and that gets progressively harder, I think, with members of parliament as time goes on.

I have to thank my staff—many of them long-suffering, I have to say! They have stuck with me for some time: Mathew Werfel, Rob Klose, Caleb Flight and Richard Brooks—all fine gentlemen and all long-term staff members. I have to thank Michelle Wilby, Amy McInnes, Ruben Bala and the many volunteers—not in particular order—Beau Brug; Heidi Mohring; Sam Miller; Alex Pados, who is certainly the most interesting Facebook meme generator I have ever met; Paige Stevens; Maddi Brett; Gareth Bailey, who has recently been to Italy and back; Zachary Gallaway; Tahlia; Chad Buchanan; Aivi Nguyen; Lucas Jones; Isabel and Claire Scriven; David Jones; Leroy Cook; Peter Skinner; Barry and Nadia Penney; Graham and Jordan Klose; and Carmel Rosier. The last one, Carmel, has helped me on many campaigns all the way along and has been a very strong supporter over the years, along with her husband, Stephen.

Of course, we have to make some special mentions of those who served on booths. Handing out how-to-vote cards is a pretty old school bit of public politicking. I do think that one of the most positive things we could do is ban how to vote cards. I know that that is sacrilege and many people will disagree with me, but I do think it would be an important function for our democracy that the ballot booth be sacred, both the internal bit of the ballot booth and also the approaches. I know the booth presentation is particularly important. It can win or lose elections in close seats, and we have increasing contests for them across the country. I think in New South Wales they are now arriving on Friday afternoon straight after school closes or as soon as the booth can possibly be manned. I do not think that is particularly healthy for democracy, and there are pretty easy solutions to it. You can just say that you cannot canvass within 50 or 100 metres of the booth, and that soon fixes your problem. I have always regarded that as an unnecessary intrusion. These days people can get how-to-votes by email or by postage, or you could have copies for people upon request. I do think that that would be worthy of consideration. It is just a personal view, of course; it does not reflect that of my party.

Regarding those who do man booths, Joe and Jasmine Daniele at Two Wells have always manned a booth for me, and I am very privileged to have their support. Antonio Polonco is another long-term supporter at Elizabeth Park. There is the Caunce family, particularly Tom and Peter; Kathy Chiera at Roseworthy; Mark Napper and Steve West manning the Hamley Bridge booth and returning it to the Labor fold, which I know will be a cause of great consternation for some of my friends in the local branch of the Liberal party up there; Councillor Paul Koch on the Gawler booth; Tony Bell out at Owen; and Guy Ballantyne at Saddleworth. Guy has been a long-term supporter, contributor and candidate for the Australian Labor Party, and a very strong presence in the mid-north for Labor. Sadly, now he has moved back to Adelaide, but I do appreciate his last efforts for us in Saddleworth. Roy Hadley and his family have been at the Watervale booth; Louise Drummond has been out at Marrabel. Marrabel has not switched. The member for Grey will know Marrabel is good farming country. I never ever get much above 33 votes, or 28 per cent—

Rowan Ramsey (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The people in Marrabel are very smart.

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

As the member for Grey says, the people in Marrabel are, indeed, very smart—but not for the reason that he thinks. There is Councillor Adrian Shackley and all of Young Labor, particularly Ben Rillo and Sean Hill who are always great organisers for Young Labor across the state. There is Kamal Dahal from the Bhutanese community; Sheila Rammell; Councillor Gay Smallwood-Smith, who is a really great supporter of mine; Councillor Marcus Strudwick, who has always handed out for Labor in Malalar, and continues to do so; Ron and Sue Wurst, who are strong supporters in the Clare Valley; Susan Cunningham, a former employee of mine and a great contributor to the Labor movement, and I cannot thank her enough; and Lindsay Palmer, a former member of the South Australian state parliament and another big contributor in the Clare Valley.

Amongst the Wakefield federal electoral council, I have to thank: Glen Armstrong, a long-term former president of the branch and former vice-president of the Centrals footy club, is always the best companion to have by your side at a shopping centre stall or a community meeting, and is a steadying voice in those debates; Stephen Hollingworth, who is a cleaner at the Munaparra shops and who I see every morning when I go to my electoral office, and also a former head delegate at the Holden site—he is amazingly connected to that part of working-class Australia, the factory workers and the people who really did want to continue to make things in this country but for the actions of the Abbott government; Derralyn Dellar; Brad Templar; 'Cricket' and Phil Fox; and Paul Purvis. These people were all big contributors to my branch and its organisation through the term and also during the election campaign.

I have to thank Zak Gadalla, Ollie Bullitis, Ali Muhammad from the Hazara community, David Amol from the Sudanese community, and the state members of parliament—Tony Picollo in Gawler, Jon Gee in Napier, Zoe Bettison in Salisbury, Lisa Vlahos in Taylor, and Lee Odenwalder, who is a former employee of mine and a former police officer in the local area of Little Para, and is a great contributor to state parliament and the local community.

All of these people made a big contributions to my re-election and I do not know where I would be without them. As you go on in this job, you realise how much you rely on the local community and your supporters within it. I also have to thank all the local papers for their contributions, and I have always found the local media, without fail, to be fair and reasonable and to reflect community opinion. All of them are country newspapers. I have a fair smattering of really successful country newspapers that are, in some in some instances, expanding. It is nice to see newspapers—which were all told are going the way of the dodo—expanding their readership and their base and finding a market out there. I have to thank the Plains Producer, the Two Wells & Districts Echo, the Barossa and Light Herald, the Northern Argus, the Barossa Leader,The Bunyip and the Northern Messenger. We rely on those papers to have the news and the local footy. I rely on them to get the local message out about the community.

For this term there are many priorities, but the priority that will remain steadfast in South Australia is jobs. We have a big challenge. In the member for Grey's electorate there are the workers at the steelmaker Arrium. We know that they rely on a government that is active and interested in their welfare and that is committed to keeping steel manufacturing happening in Whyalla. I certainly appreciate that there has been an outbreak of bipartisanship in recent times, and I think that is an important and good thing for Whyalla.

Tragically, in my electorate we will see the closure of Holden in 2017, in this term. Many of the Holden workers do not want any media interest at this point in time. They want to look for more work through the transition centre, which I visited last week with Doug Cameron and Kate Ellis to look at the work being done by the Holden transition team to help those factory workers seek other work and sometimes be released with a modified redundancy package to take those jobs. But we are going to see a great bulk of workers who want to see the last car come off the line—an important car because it will reflect the end of car manufacturing in this country. It will be an emotional moment for this country, and I think it will be a moment of reflection for people in South Australia and people in the country, particularly when they realise the dollar is at 70c and we could have been exporting these cars, particularly to the United States. Cop cars and Chevy SSs could have been happening if different decisions had been made.

I think there will be both nostalgia and disappointment—not so much anger any more, but disappointment—with the actions of this government. We have seen the same thing at ASC, in shipbuilding. In one way or another, whether it is the supply ships, whether it is the government decision making around submarines, they got there in the end, but the decision-making process caused unnecessary angst and debate in South Australia. We now have a job to retain a skilled workforce in shipbuilding and automotive and make sure that those people go back into productive enterprises. That is going to be the great challenge for this government, and if they fail it will be a challenge for the next government, a Labor government.

It is a challenge that I want to be at the forefront of. For that reason I am very thankful that Bill Shorten has made me shadow parliamentary secretary for manufacturing and science. I want to see a country where people do make things, where manufacturing is highly engineered, where the value is driven by science, research and productivity. We can do that. We did it in the car industry, despite all the palaver that you might read in some of the news outlets. We did it in shipbuilding as well. We are capable of making very well crafted and effective bits of machinery in this country. You only have to go down and look at the latest Holdens. You only have to look at the performance of the Collins class submarines to know that Australian workers can make great and magnificent bits of kit—cars, medical instruments and a whole range of things. That is what I will dedicate myself to do, to face the jobs challenge in my state and across the country. Hopefully we will be doing it in government in short order.

Rowan Ramsey (Grey, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the Governor-General for his address setting out the plans this government has: stabilizing the budget, ensuring our nation is safe, growing our economy, developing new markets, embarking on the greatest ever investment in infrastructure and stimulating regional economies through our $200 million Regional Jobs and Investment Package, which I will speak about a little later in this speech. The Governor-General also outlined our intentions to support and promote agriculture, making a significant effort in the environment reducing CO2 emissions and real-time efforts in the natural environment, the National Innovation and Science Agenda, education, employment, health and a whole host of initiatives from aged care to the cashless welfare card, the same-sex marriage plebiscite and constitutional recognition of our Indigenous peoples. This government, the Turnbull-led coalition, has a very busy program and has been very busy since the election. While we have made considerable ground, I am really looking forward to the challenge of the next three years.

In my electorate of Grey I would like to express my satisfaction with the programs committed to through the election period. The funding to complete the Port Lincoln recreation centre upgrades; the Safer Communities programs in Wallaroo, Port Augusta, Minlaton and Port Lincoln; three mobile phone blackspot towers that we committed to make sure will happen at Bute/Tickera, Robertstown and Marree; and a commitment to fully fund a new headspace unit in Whyalla. However, the biggest and most important is our commitment to the upper Spencer Gulf generally with the announcement of a $20 million Regional Jobs and Investment Package for that area.

Australia is aware that steelmaking in Whyalla is facing an existential challenge. For those who are not familiar with the steel industry in Whyalla, it was originally developed on the back of Australia's first iron ore mine at nearby Iron Knob by BHP. In 1998 BHP spun off its steelmaking enterprises in Australia and the company Arrium was formed. One of its assets was the integrated iron and steel production platform in Whyalla.

Since that time, the fortunes of the integrated operation have waxed and waned, with the highlight being the investment in Project Magnet in the early 2000s, when a refurbished blast furnace was supplied with magnetite instead of hematite, thus freeing up the significant hematite supplies for direct export. The Whyalla port was redeveloped to facilitate barging of iron ore for loading onto Cape class vessels. This just preceded the peaking of the iron ore market and its subsequent retreat. To cut the story very short, in the last ten years the company increasingly focussed on mining and borrowed billions of dollars to expand capacity. These decisions coincided with long-term underinvestment in the steel plant, and when the price of iron ore crashed Arrium was left owing creditors more than $4bn in total. Arrium reported in early April that the company was going into receivership.

That news was certainly very challenging for the community. The steel works employ about 1,600 people directly, and the mining venture which supplies about two million tonnes a year for the blast furnace and eight million for direct export employs another 700. Given even a very modest multiplier effect, it is not difficult to extrapolate that well in excess of 50 per cent of the Whyalla workforce depends on the survival of the integrated operation. There is very little flexibility in the Whyalla economy. Essentially, it is a custom-designed city built to service one industry. If there is no iron or steel, there is very little reason for Whyalla. That, and the security imperative of Australia retaining an independent heavy structural steel capacity, is why I believe that we simply must find a way for this industry to survive and prosper, and it is why I have been very pleased with the federal government's input up to now in bringing this operation back to profitability, thus greatly enhancing its sale prospects.

Our work in tightening up the antidumping rules, making sure the commissioner is well resourced, advancing the Adelaide to Tarcoola line replacement, thus delivering an order of 80,000 tonnes of rail to the plant—this order, and a renewed commitment from the large Australian consumers has led to the recent announcement that the plant is to run an extra shift in the rolling mill with around 44 new jobs, and the blast furnace is operating at around 90 per cent capacity. Throughput is everything. The plant has high fixed costs and that means that maximum output significantly reduces the unit cost.

Further, the coalition government has delivered a $49.2 million low-interest loan for the purchase of a new beneficiation plant in the nearby mines, which will bring unmarketable ore stockpiles to be upgraded to export standard. It is estimated that this action alone will improve the bottom line in Whyalla by $50 million per annum.