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

I thank Senator Singh for her concern, a concern which I recall was raised by Senator Fierravanti-Wells some months ago. I recall her asking me what I would say to the people of Wollongong, people she said were concerned about their jobs. I actually did go to Wollongong. We went there with a real plan—the Steel Transformation Plan—a plan backed by some $300 million, a plan that will be locked into legislation. We will of course help provide the wherewithal to ensure that there are steel jobs in the Illawarra for decades to come—a plan I notice that the opposition are refusing to support. The opposition have made it perfectly clear that they have no intention of supporting such a plan. We heard the same thing when the Liberal Party went to the Steel Institute. We have seen the Leader of the Opposition put that proposition. What they are really about is finding $70 billion to cover the black hole they have in their budget. The Leader of the Opposition has indicated that as part of seeking to find that money he will tear up the Clean Energy Future plan.

We heard the member for Sturt just yesterday say that the opposition will be voting against the carbon tax, and this package of legislation includes the Steel Transformation Plan. They are quite happy to appear on TV every night, standing next to people in fluoro vests, but they are not prepared to actually back those people. They are not prepared to do anything to actually help them. What they are prepared to do is push forward measures to make it easier to sack those people and to strip away investments. Every night on TV we see their crocodile tears for workers in manufacturing, but when it comes to actually doing something to help people, they vote against it. The only thing they are interested in is crawling over the jobs of Australian workers. (Time expired)