Michaelia Cash (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Women) Share this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Farrell for his question, and, no, I can't. I disagree with you in relation to the statement that you made about Joe Hockey. What I can say is this: Graham Richardson—a former member of the Labor Party and a former member of cabinet—has today gone on the record and written an op-ed in The Australian. This is what he says in relation to the car industry:

The billions of dollars doled out to GMH, Ford and Toyota during the 80s and 90s and beyond was good money thrown after bad.

This is Graham Richardson, former member of a Labor cabinet.

I sat in cabinet meetings where all of us … were too frightened to tell the workers of Adelaide that this would not end well. … billions of dollars were shovelled at the industry in the certain knowledge it would only delay what fate had destined to occur.

Colleagues, that is a former cabinet minister in the Labor government who has decided enough is enough. He has gone on the record to say exactly what occurred in the Labor cabinet when those opposite were in power.

But, of course, Senator Kim Carr has piped up in the Adelaide Advertiser and said:

I took to Cabinet a proposal to do two new Holden models … and had a plan for $300 million a year in support …

This begs the question: what happened to it? What happened to it, Senator Carr? If the Rudd-Gillard government agreed to it, why are we only reading about it years and years later? I think it's because what Graham Richardson says is true.

Senator Kim Carr interjecting—

Senator Cormann interjecting—