Nick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Cormann says that it is unfair. Maybe my question is a bit boring, so I will take that! All I am asking is this: has any modelling been done to consider what the economic benefits would be to increase funds such as the Automotive Transformation Scheme, the Next Generation Manufacturing Investment Programme, or the Automotive Diversification Program? Spending some money on doing that could reap significant dividends in terms of increased employment, more people paying PAYE tax, companies earning more money and paying more company tax, and the general multiplier effect on the economy of that economic activity. Right now, the modelling done by the University of Adelaide and the work done by the Bracks review in the auto sector show that we are going to face a multi-billion dollar hit to the economy, in the order of $22 billion, when the auto sector shuts down. Surely that is something that ought to have been considered in the balancing act between these tax cuts and issues of industry assistance.