Paul Scarr (Queensland, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Senator Polley—through you, President—I will be reflecting on the fact that, between 1997 and 2012, billions of Australian taxpayer dollars went to supporting the automotive industry. How much do you think was spent between 1997 and 2012 in Australian taxpayer dollars? To everyone in the gallery, to everyone paying tax, to everyone listening: how much do you think was spent not in today's dollars but in 1997 to 2012? Five billion? No. Ten billion? No. Fifteen billion? No. Twenty billion? No. Twenty-five billion? No. Thirty billion dollars of taxpayer dollars was spent supporting the automotive industry. And what happened? It left anyway. Thirty billion dollars was spent. And now we have a new policy coming from those opposite, industry policy 2.0, proposing exactly the same thing.

Senator Tim Ayres says it's a disgrace. Do you know how much was spent in taxpayer dollars to subsidise those 40,000 jobs each year? It was $300,000 of taxpayer dollars that was spent per job, to subsidise each of those jobs. Does that make sense to anyone in the gallery? Does it make sense to anyone listening to this debate—$300,000 of taxpayer dollars to subsidise those 40,000 jobs. What happened at the end? They went anyway. Now the government is proposing a policy which will take us back into that territory. Those aren't my figures. If you want to learn about the issues in relation to this debate, have a look at the Bills digestnot prepared by a politician but prepared by our wonderful parliamentary staff, who go through these issues. We spent $30 billion on the automotive industry, and they couldn't get it to work. Now we're going down exactly the same path as we did in the past.

Honourable senators interjecting—

Senators might want to restrain their remarks whilst I make this comment—I'm happy for you to continue after I make this comment: I would like to acknowledge former senator Kimberley Kitching in terms of her role in relation to the consideration of manufacturing policy. In the last parliament I served as chair of the economics committee, and former senator Kimberley Kitching, a Labor senator from Victoria, participated in that committee and demonstrated a great deal of passion and empathy for the cause of those opposite, which I respect but deeply disagree with. I'd just like to note her contribution in relation to this debate.

There are so many myths in this debate. We heard from Senator Polley that the previous government apparently did nothing to support the manufacturing industry. What are the actual realities in terms of that? What's actually the truth in terms of the support of the previous government? You don't have to ask me; again, you can go to the Bills digest for the objective information in relation to this. I quote from page 12 of the Bills digest:

The Commission estimated that the manufacturing industry had received more than $2.8 billion in net industry assistance from government in 2020-21—

That was under the previous government—$2.8 billion in one year. Those opposite say, 'You did nothing.' That $2.8 billion is not my money or Senator Ayres's money; it's the people's money. And they want to increase that amount from $2.8 billion to $15 billion. That's their answer. Don't bring this farcical argument that those on this side of the chamber don't care about the manufacturing industry; it's totally a fallacious argument, and totally wrong. We are concerned about how we get to the position to provide the maximum opportunity for people to have productive, efficient manufacturing industries in this country, as opposed to this sort of nonsensical industry policy.

First, I want to talk about approach. The core business of government should be about creating the investment environment for manufacturing and every other industry. That is the core function of government. It is not to take shareholdings in different businesses and become an owner of those private enterprises. I don't think anyone here or any of the 15 million Australian taxpayers signed up to contribute $1,000 each for the Labor Party's private equity fund. That's essentially what they're proposing. It's not your choice. They're going to invest your money in individual enterprises all over Australia. Gee, what could go wrong? The Australian automotive industry received $30 billion between 1997 and 2012—$30 billion!—for no result.

The other point I want to make has been made by the Productivity Commission. You will not hear anyone on the other side of the chamber talk about the Productivity Commission. Why? Because the Productivity Commission have repeatedly warned Australia about going down this path. That's because it does not work. It distorts the economy. It promotes rent-seeking and the misallocation of resources. There will be a conga line of rent-seekers coming after the $15 billion from the government with respect to their projects. You've got to ask yourself this question—and it's in the Bills Digest

Sorry, Madam President; I'm having trouble hearing myself over Senator Ayres's constant interjections. If they were witty, I might give him more indulgence. But it is hard to hear.