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

I appreciate that Senator Ryan, not having been here very long, probably does not know very much about what we have been doing in the Australian automotive industry. He is probably not aware of this government’s commitment to the Australian automotive industry. He is probably not aware of the lack of commitment from his colleagues, who chose to turn their backs on the Australian automotive industry. It was his colleagues who in 2002 put in place a program which they set and then forgot. They have had this industry on automatic pilot since 2002. In that time, the Australian dollar has increased its value by 77 per cent. What we have seen is that the previous government had no regard for the Australian automotive industry. It took the view that this was an industry that could get on by itself. (Time expired)