Stephen Parry (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator Carr. Can the minister confirm that converting an existing Toyota Camry to LPG would provide greater annual fuel cost savings than would be achieved by a new hybrid Camry?

Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The project that the Commonwealth has been fortunate enough to be able to announce, which provides $35 million to bring new fuel savings technologies to Australia, is about creating jobs and tackling climate change. It is a project which, I think, is far too good to miss. It is a project which will secure the production of 10,000 hybrid Camrys per annum and is in addition to Toyota’s existing production of conventional Camrys and Aurions. It will stimulate the development of new production and after-market capabilities. It will get Australia into the green vehicle game, which, until now, we have been watching very much from the sidelines. It will generate hundreds of jobs and cement Australia’s place in Toyota’s global production system. It will encourage a competitive response from other Australian automotive manufacturers who are working on green technologies of their own. The money will be invested in research and development, in retooling and in plant and equipment to produce the hybrid. The Australian government has made it very clear that there are a whole series of benchmarks to be met.

I wanted to make those points because it is quite clear from the opposition’s response to this initiative that they are quite confused. On the one hand, Senator Minchin appears to support the Australian automotive industry and, on the other hand, Senator Abetz has been nothing but hostile. In fact, he has a visceral contempt for the Australian automotive industry. He has demonstrated time and time again his lack of understanding of the significance of the Australian automotive industry. So what we have here is quite clearly confusion on behalf of the coalition.

Nick Minchin (SA, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I rise on a point of order. The minister has taken two minutes in trying to answer this question. The question was specifically about comparing LPG in a Camry with LPG in a hybrid Camry, and he has made no attempt to get to the question at all.

Alan Ferguson (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Carr, I have been listening carefully to your answer and I have allowed a fair bit of latitude in relation to its relevance, but I do believe that you should come back to the question.

Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Claims have been made that this is a project that the opposition does support—that is what Dr Nelson has said—but then we have claims made by senators here that they do not support this project. So which one is it? Do you support this project or don’t you? I think we need a clear statement from you.

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I rise on a point of order. I think the minister is defying your invitation to return to the question and I would invite you to remind him of the question. He clearly is straying.

Chris Evans (WA, Australian Labor Party, Leader of the Government in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, on the point of order: I think the minister has had about 20 seconds since the last point of order to develop his argument. I think, in all fairness, he ought to be allowed to address the question, as you instructed him.

Alan Ferguson (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I agree, Senator Evans: there was only an extra 20 seconds. But, Senator Carr, you have ranged very far and wide and I am struggling to find relevance here. I would ask you to return to the question.

Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, it is a simple proposition: the government’s view is that there are a range of options to be pursued in greening-up the Australian auto fleet quickly. That means LPG, diesel, fuel-injection systems—there is a whole range of actions that this government is taking. But, of course, the opposition takes an entirely different view. The opposition denied climate change when it was in government, and it is now looking for any excuse to oppose new investment, new technologies and new jobs for Australia. If this opposition were serious in suggesting—

Opposition Senators:

Opposition senators interjecting—

Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I want to know, though: are you serious in suggesting that we should have knocked back this investment? Are you seriously suggesting that we should take ourselves out of the bid for the next Camry in this country? Are you seriously suggesting that we should take ourselves out of the bid for the one after that?

Rod Kemp (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I rise on a point of order that goes to relevance. We have waited very patiently now for 3½ minutes for Senator Carr to get to the question. Just to refresh his memory, the question is: can the minister confirm that converting an existing Toyota Camry to LPG would provide greater annual fuel cost savings than would be achieved by a new hybrid Camry? Can he please provide an answer to the question?

Honourable Senators:

Honourable senators interjecting—

Alan Ferguson (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Order! We will not continue until the Senate comes to order. Senator Kemp, you will be aware that I cannot direct the minister on how to answer a question; I can only further remind him of the question that was asked.

Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you, Mr President. The government’s modelling suggests that savings of some $300-odd a year can be made from an LPG conversion, but savings of up to $1,000 can be found if you are an average motorist driving the hybrid Camry about 20,000 kilometres a year. There are substantial savings in fuel consumption to be had from the hybrid Camry. (Time expired)

Stephen Parry (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question of the minister. Is it also a fact that the cost of converting a Toyota Camry to LPG is far less than the likely cost premium for a new hybrid Camry? Doesn’t this just prove that Labor Senator George Campbell—who, I notice, is not in the chamber at the moment—was correct when he described the government’s $35 million gift to Toyota as a ‘pig in a poke’?

Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

As I have indicated, there are a range of strategies that the government is pursuing, because our commitment is to reduce the cost of running a car for average motorists. Our commitment, our drive, is to ensure that we take the pressure not only off motorists’ wallets but also off the environment. Our approach is to ensure that these things happen quickly. Alternatively, the former government had 11 years to do something about these issues and, for 11 years, it denied the existence of climate change as a serious issue, denied the science and were sceptics about the whole issue of climate change. Now we have the situation where the opposition wishes to deny an opportunity such as the one which presents itself. According to the opposition, we should have said to Toyota: ‘No thanks. Come back when you’ve got a car good enough for our leading authorities on vehicle technology’—the Liberal Party of Australia! (Time expired)