Simon Birmingham (SA, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for the Environment) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Farrell and others—through you, Mr Acting Deputy President—sat on their hands in government while Labor broke, in the last two years, $1.4 billion of their own promised funding commitments as they chopped and changed in government. That was $1.4 billion that they chopped and changed in government, of their own funding commitments. The broken carbon tax promise slugged the whole automotive sector with a $460 million additional cost impost. Former Prime Minister Julia Gillard went along to Ford, promised them $34 million and said it would create 300 jobs, yet within eight months 330 jobs were gone. The same Prime Minister announced $215 million for Holden, saying it would secure its future in Australia until 2022, but within months 670 jobs were lost.

Senator Farrell interjecting—

All of that demonstrates, Senator Farrell, if you think about it, that, for all the money being thrown at the industry, it was still going backwards. That is the reason why in 2008, for all the money that had been thrown at it, Mitsubishi left. Earlier this year, for all the money that had been thrown at it, Ford announced it was closing its doors.

This, of course, is because we had become such an unsustainable, uncompetitive place in which to do business. The core of this government's commitment is to reduce the cost of business for Australia.