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 the Minister for Employment (Senator Abetz), the Minister for Finance (Senator Cormann) and the Assistant Minister for Health (Senator Nash) to questions without notice asked by Opposition senators today.

I remind the Senate that question time today reflects how this government have degenerated into purveyors of lies. This government have predicated their approach on peddling lies. They lie about the way in which the automotive industry operates and they lie about the way in which SPC operates. This government have degenerated into peddlers of lies.

They said that Toyota said that no matter what we did, they would leave as Holden did—which we know is untrue. Holden wanted to invest $1 billion. Jobs were driven overseas as a direct result of this government's actions. Toyota wanted to build not one but two new models in this country, which would have seen investment of around a similar proportion to that of General Motors.

Both these companies wanted long-term certainty. They did not want more; they just wanted to guarantee that the current support arrangements would be there into the next decade. What happened? The government promised to cut $500 million from the automotive industry assistance arrangements.

This is a government that has killed the automotive industry in this country. This is a government that will not face up to the fact that a new car plan, as Labor announced, would have secured the future of the automotive industry in this country and the jobs that go with it—the new investment, the new technologies and the new skills for Australia.

Senator Abetz says that we should not misquote Toyota, but I think Senator Abetz should refresh his own memory of what Toyota actually said. Toyota spoke to the Productivity Commission, which faithfully reported the statements on the 31 January—less than two weeks ago. Toyota Motor Corporation, on page 166, has stated that government assistance 'needs to be consistent and it needs to be ongoing' in order for Australian manufacturing operations to be viable. Senator Abetz, instead of acting blatantly in his party's interest, ought to think for a little while just about the national interest of this country and about the welfare of the people of this country.

It cannot be anything other than a social and economic disaster to see the loss of 50,000 jobs from the automotive industry, and the loss of maybe four or five times that number from subsequent industries that support the automotive industry. How can it possibly be in the national interest to get rid of Australian capabilities in regard to automotive manufacturing? How can the loss of those jobs, skills, technology, investment and taxation revenue be in the national interest? But this is a government that has pursued that course of policy.

They sicced the Productivity Commission on the industry, in what we have said would always be a post-mortem. Well, it is a situation here—and I repeat my statements from before—where the coroner is inquiring into a death which the government welcome. This is a government that welcome the destruction of the automotive industry.

When it comes to SPC, Senator Cormann makes the claim that he stands by all the assertions that this government, the Prime Minister and other ministers have made. None of their claims, he said, were false—none, whatsoever, of their claims was false. That is not what the company says. That is not what his own Liberal Party member in the seat of Murray says. That is not what the workers say. That is not what the press in the Goulburn Valley say. This is a government that turns its back on entire communities, not just on individual firms.

So we have a situation where over 3,000 people are now facing an economic catastrophe because of the government's blatant arrogance. The press reported that it is understood that, in the Liberal Party room itself, blatant arrogance is running this government. The government have a textbook view about how the economy works. It is a view that might be popular in the north shore of Sydney, but it bears no relationship whatsoever to the realities of economic life for working Australians and no relationship whatsoever to the way in which investment decisions are made internationally.

This is a government that is turning its back on ordinary Australians. This is a government that has no commitment to securing the investment, new technologies, new skills and new jobs this country needs. (Time expired)