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 answer given by the Attorney-General (Senator Brandis) to a question without notice asked by Senator Carr today relating to jobs in the ship building industry.

Could I pose a simple question: has this government actually come to terms with its responsibilities as a government? Because every possible explanation we get from this government—and it is demonstrated in the answer we heard today—is that they are still acting as an opposition. They do not take responsibilities as a government. After two years in power, the Abbott government has failed to ensure that there is any meaningful work for Australia's shipbuilding industry and its workers. Yet they still act as if they were in opposition by suggesting that this is a problem that, of course, is the responsibility of the opposition! We know the reality is somewhat different.

In 2013, the previous Labor government, in its bid to maintain the shipbuilding capacity of this nation, create the jobs and maximise the value for our Defence acquisitions, proposed a series of measures to actually bring forward work for shipbuilding in this country.