Brett Mason (Queensland, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Health and Ageing) Share this | Hansard source

In the industry portfolio, I know that there is often discussion about the car industry. The car industry and the Department of Industry, Tourism and Resources sit down and discuss policy with respect to the manufacture of cars in Australia. Those industries are US corporations. There is no plot behind that; it is just a simple fact that, in this country, when government is soliciting advice from consumers, which also happens, but also in relation to industry, some corporations are American—the Ford Motor Company and General Motors. I think, Senator Brown, the idea that somehow the pharmaceutical industry is different and that the government has a different approach to the advice from pharmaceutical companies—as opposed to, let us say, the car industry or any other industry—is ridiculous.