Tim Ayres (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Assistant Minister for Trade) Share this | Hansard source

I think you've misrepresented the position of industry. What industry is saying is, 'Pass the bill.' Your team had a decade in office to tackle all the problems you say are there. And what happened? Wages in these sectors fell. Jobs were forced offshore. There was disinvestment in Australian manufacturing and, indeed, in the energy sector. The community benefit principles, as set out in the act, will be worked through by the Treasurer over the fullness of time in a way that meets the needs of industry in what I would have thought was an uncontroversial proposition and supports investment in the supply chain in local communities and in good blue-collar jobs. That's anathema, I know, to the Liberals and Nationals. That's what the community benefit principles will deliver. They will be there in a disallowable instrument for the Senate to scrutinise.

I have to say—this sudden concern about industry support and assistance comes from a mob who proposed to spend $600 billion in a publicly funded nuclear reactor plan which would deliver four per cent of Australia's electricity needs. Honestly, as I'm sure my good friend Senator Linda White would have said if she had heard this, how much can a koala bear? Honestly, the hypocrisy of that proposition and the gainsaying of the national interest—you should front up in Western Australia and say the same thing. I look forward to the Senate's support.