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

What I did indicate to the shadow minister was that the manufacturing sector continues to be a significant employer in Australia. The sector employs well over 1.1 million Australians, largely in high-wage, high-skilled jobs, largely in quality jobs, largely in full-time jobs, which stands in stark contrast to the attitude of the previous government, which sought to drive down wages, sought to drive down job security and, through its Work Choices legislation, sought to undermine the confidence of working people and their capacity to actually put themselves forward in terms of the future prosperity of this country.

What we have actually seen in the last 12 months is 22,300 new jobs created. There have been a series of highly regrettable announcements with regard to job losses across a range of— (Time expired)