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

Senator, all I can do is point to the statements made by the company itself, that the actions of the company were about restructuring its operation to improve its financial health and were due to global circumstances which were reflected in the price of the dollar, reflected in the price of raw materials and reflected in the fact that it was facing intense import competition. What the company itself said was that its decision had nothing whatsoever to do with the pricing of carbon.

What we have, of course, is an opportunity to use the policies that we are undertaking to deal with the challenges of climate change to allow us to retool manufacturing right across this country. This is actually an economic opportunity to invest in the jobs of the future, to ensure that we have a competitive position so that blue-collar workers have high-skilled, high-wage job opportunities into the future. Your policy is to stand against that. Your policy is to oppose the economic opportunities that working people have a right to expect from this parliament. (Time expired)