Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research) Share this | Hansard source

The project that the Commonwealth has been fortunate enough to be able to announce, which provides $35 million to bring new fuel savings technologies to Australia, is about creating jobs and tackling climate change. It is a project which, I think, is far too good to miss. It is a project which will secure the production of 10,000 hybrid Camrys per annum and is in addition to Toyota’s existing production of conventional Camrys and Aurions. It will stimulate the development of new production and after-market capabilities. It will get Australia into the green vehicle game, which, until now, we have been watching very much from the sidelines. It will generate hundreds of jobs and cement Australia’s place in Toyota’s global production system. It will encourage a competitive response from other Australian automotive manufacturers who are working on green technologies of their own. The money will be invested in research and development, in retooling and in plant and equipment to produce the hybrid. The Australian government has made it very clear that there are a whole series of benchmarks to be met.

I wanted to make those points because it is quite clear from the opposition’s response to this initiative that they are quite confused. On the one hand, Senator Minchin appears to support the Australian automotive industry and, on the other hand, Senator Abetz has been nothing but hostile. In fact, he has a visceral contempt for the Australian automotive industry. He has demonstrated time and time again his lack of understanding of the significance of the Australian automotive industry. So what we have here is quite clearly confusion on behalf of the coalition.