Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence Materiel) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Colbeck for yet another dorothy. The government's position is that we are standing shoulder to shoulder with manufacturing workers right across this country. We are in a situation where we have seen, as a direct result of the unprecedented rise in the value of the Australian dollar and the unprecedented level of competition from cheap imports, that working people in manufacturing are facing acute pressure. I would have thought that this Senate would come together to defend their interests, but unfortunately that is not the case. Your position in regard to the auto­motive industry, for instance, is to see the destruction of that industry and to see the destruction of 200,000 jobs for Australians that work in that industry and industries associated with it. That is a position that I reject, and it is a position that this govern­ment rejects. We have maintained our commitment to ensuring that working people in this country get a fair go, and we will do all we can to ensure that that happens. (Time expired)