Nick Champion (Wakefield, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Manufacturing and Science) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

On 11 December 2013, the Financial Review's headline read: 'Hockey dares GM to leave'. It was a terrible day for my electorate. Then Treasurer Hockey basically dared General Motors Holden to close production here in Australia. Apparently, he was outraged at taxpayer assistance to the auto industry. He told this House:

A hell of a lot of industries in Australia would love to get the assistance the automotive industry is getting.

Well, now we know which he had in mind—Helloworld—because in today's Sydney Morning Herald it is reported that, in April 2017, Mr Hockey told Washington embassy staff to meet with an executive of Helloworld, the listed travel service company managed by Mr Andrew Burnes, Mr Hockey's good friend and Liberal Party treasurer. It also records that Mr Hockey is one of Helloworld's 20 largest shareholders and now has a shareholding of $1.3 million. It also records that Mr Burnes donated $500,000 to the Liberal Party.

These must be very, very uncomfortable facts, given that the finance minister has overseen a $1 billion tender for government travel to—guess who? What a surprise—Helloworld! One billion dollars is about the same amount of money it took to support 50,000 autoworkers in Australia. But what is this government doing with $1 billion? This government is handing it to Helloworld.