Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader for Science) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by ministers to questions without notice today relating to the automotive industry.

These were, of course, questions that were asked by non-government senators, because there was not one question presented to this chamber from the government side. There was not one attempt to seek information about the consequences of the social and economic catastrophe which has been brought into this country as a direct result of the government's policy to drive General Motors out of Australia. What we did get was a stunt, at the beginning of question time, to attempt to avoid scrutiny. Now we have a clear example of the way in which this government operates. It pays a lot of attention to the politics of a situation but absolutely no attention whatsoever to the substantial policy questions.

General Motors, after the swearing-in of the government on 18 September, presented the government with a business case, on 3 October, in which they required assistance to meet $1 billion worth of new investment for the new generation motor vehicles in Australia, which would take production through to the middle of next decade. We have a minister here today who did not know about it. He did not know anything about the business case that has been put. He did not know anything about whether or not the Prime Minister has actually taken any interest in this matter. He did not know anything about the fact—which is now revealed for all to see—that the Prime Minister not once sought to discuss that business case with General Motors. He did not visit them and did not discuss the question with General Motors. But, as of Thursday, 5 December, a campaign was launched by senior members of this government to try and drive General Motors out of Australia—and they were very successful; what an incredible success indeed.

Yesterday, when the Treasurer was presented with the news, he said he was not surprised that this should have happened. He is right: he should not be surprised given the amount of energy he has put into driving this company away from Australia. We should not be surprised that this government has acted with such complete cavalier disregard for the welfare of workers in this industry, or the national economy or the regional economy. We also heard today that, despite the deliberate efforts of this government to drive this company out of Australia and end manufacturing in the automotive industry, there has been no strategy put in place and no thought given to the consequences of this, other than an attempt to draw upon a Labor program—the Automotive Industry Structural Adjustment Program—which would have been overwhelmed by the scale of the disaster that this government have brought to this country.

We have seen the unparalleled hostility of this government to the automotive industry.