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

You call them good savings measures here. They are good savings measures in exporting jobs. That is what you are good at: you are about exporting jobs, destroying Australian industry and undermining the capacity of this country to provide the high-skill, high-wage jobs that we need. This is a government that is not actually interested in genuine industry consultation about its plans. This is a government that has a predetermined hostility to Australian industry. We see the Minister for Defence sitting there. We cannot even build boats in this country anymore, because of the government's predetermined hostility to manufacturing. The government will not invest in Australian jobs and will do all that it can to export jobs.

The unending cycle of reviews does not do anything other than add to the uncertainty and the government's cover, when in reality there is an unmitigated hostility: the destruction of Commercialisation Australia, of Enterprise Connect, of the Innovation Investment Fund and of the Australian Industry Participation Plan, and the attempts to destroy the TCF support program—the list goes on and on and on. We know that this is a government that promises one thing before the election and does the opposite in this budget. We are now noticing this attempt to strip away the incentives from the largest firms affected by these measures. This again reflects government hostility to Australian firms investing in jobs in Australia.

The evidence on R&D is very clear. We know that these programs work and that small and medium-sized enterprises are lean innovators, accounting for a very small proportion of the total investment, and are much less likely to generate new-to-the-world innovations. By contrast, large Australian businesses make up the majority of total investment in innovation and are much more likely to collaborate with the research sector and generate new-to-the-world innovations.

What this bill does is strip away support for the innovation system and target particularly the larger firms, who are the backbone of the R&D program in this country. We also know that, of the 18 submissions to the Senate committee inquiry on this bill, all but one opposed the change. The people who are actually involved in making decisions about the development of our innovation system—the people who are actually making it happen—regard this bill as being a fundamental setback for the development of jobs in Australia. The truth of this government's motivation is nothing other than a reduction in public support for jobs, investment and the development of the new technologies, new skills and new industries that this country desperately needs to ensure that it is able to maintain the prosperity that this nation desperately needs to secure its future.

I am told that there will be an amendment proposed to this bill as a result of discussions between Senator Wang and the government. I think Senator Wang has acted out of good intent and is seeking to ameliorate the effects of the bill, but these are substantial amendments and, when they are moved, a Labor senator will be seeking to move that these matters be referred back to the Senate committee so we can actually look at the implications of Senator Wang's amendments. I would urge all senators who are concerned about this issue to have a look at this proposal and allow us the chance to consult with industry about the consequences of what is a very significant change in the innovation system in this country.

I understand that questions are about to start, so I will be seeking to continue my remarks after—