Anne Urquhart (Tasmania, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It gets worse. Not only does this government raise the white flag when Aussie jobs are being sent offshore; it actually develops policy to hasten this outcome. Take the renewable industry, for example, which has suffered a massive 88 per cent drop in investment since this government set out to sabotage every policy that Australia has to respond to climate change and transition to a low-carbon economy—or the wind industry specifically, where the Prime Minister did a dirty deal with certain crossbench members to add extra layers of bureaucracy in his coal-addled determination to bring this multi-billion-dollar industry to its knees. Not only that, but he directed the Clean Energy Finance Corporation to stop investing in this cheap and clean energy source that promises many hundreds of jobs in regional Australia. Or we could look at Australia's vital strategic shipbuilding industry, which saw the Abbott government blatantly ignore its own advice that Australian submarines should be built in Australia and its own pre-election promise to build 12 submarines in South Australia. Let us not forget that. It was a pre-election promise that there would be 12 submarines built in South Australia under the Abbott government. Astoundingly, the Abbott government actually excluded Australian shipbuilding companies from the tender process for the construction of two new naval supply ships. Or how about the appalling coastal shipping legislation which plans to sell out Australian jobs by removing the preference for Australian-flagged and cruise ships operating on our coastlines?

Let's be clear: The Abbott government has absolutely and totally failed to create the conditions for growth. It is clear that this government has no plan for Australian jobs. This is a government stuck in a permanent, fatal opposition-mode loop. (Time expired)

Question agreed to.