Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the senator for his question. I acknowledge that Senator Carr is not here, but I suspect Senator Birmingham must not have been here yesterday because I thought we dealt with these issues fairly comprehensively. I am happy to, again, expand on the breadth of my knowledge of these issues. I made it very clear yesterday that, as part of the government’s commitment to the development of green car innovation, we are going to contribute, as was announced, $35 million to Toyota’s much larger investment in this hybrid Camry production. I think your question, Senator Birmingham, implies that somehow Toyota are not investing in this, that somehow it is a contribution by the government. What we are doing is making a small capital grant of $35 million as part of a much broader investment by Toyota. For you to prove your argument that somehow this is an ineffective argument you must say that Toyota are acting against their self-interest, that they do not think this is a worthwhile project. They think this is a very worthwhile project. They had to choose where to do it, and partly because of the support they got from this government they decided to do this development work in Australia.

We think that is a really good thing for Australia. We think it is a really good thing for the Australian car industry and I am surprised that the opposition are unprepared to support the future of the Australian car industry. This hybrid will make a contribution to the development of cleaner, more fuel efficient vehicle transport in this country. This is part of that contribution. Yes, there are other models like the Prius and others being developed which are going down this path. What this means is that Toyota will look to develop its hybrid Camry in Australia. It will receive the support of the Australian government and the Victorian government. We think it is a really good project. We think it will assist in reducing carbon emissions and lead us to cleaner vehicle technologies. I think that, while it is not the only measure, it is one of a number and it is one that is worth supporting.