David Feeney (Victoria, Australian Labor 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 assure the Senate that the government’s New Car Plan for a Greener Future is designed to benefit Australian industry?

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

I thank Senator Feeney for his question. Coming from Victoria, he understands just how important the automotive industry is. But the level of muddle-headed commentary on these issues that we have heard from the opposition and from some sections of the press is quite astonishing. I acknowledge that not all of it has come from the opposition. People are going around and predicting the worst, seizing on every item of bad news about the international economy and suggesting that we should not do anything because the situation is so bad. The government takes a very different view. We are doing everything that we can and that is responsible to make sure that this industry becomes stronger and more sustainable. The reason for that is pretty straightforward: we care about the 200,000 workers who depend upon this industry.

Of course, we are not the only government in the world that takes this view. The United States government, the German government and the European Union have all introduced or foreshadowed multibillion-dollar support packages. Our $6.2 billion New Car Plan for a Greener Future will drive innovation, which is needed to make the Australian car industry more productive and more competitive. Let me stress again that the plan is to promote automotive production in Australia by Australians. The plan has been prepared and implemented in partnership. It was founded and it remains founded on the principle of mutual obligation. There are no handouts in this package. Every dollar contributed by the Commonwealth must be matched several times over by the industry. It is all about co-investment. Let me put it to you very bluntly: if the industry does not put in its share, it does not get anything back from the taxpayer. It is not possible to say it any clearer than that.

Although I cannot say which of the several hundred firms that are involved in this industry will directly make the investments, particularly the component manufacturers, what I can say is that 45 per cent of the $2.5 million component of the Automotive Transformation Scheme is actually earmarked for the component sector. The vast majority of them are small and medium sized firms. Collectively, they employ a majority of the 65,000 workers directly employed in the industry. They are the backbone of the industry, and this is very much a plan for them. They will be able to compete for assistance through the $1.3 billion green car innovation plan, as will Australian researchers—not just the 3,000 scientists and technicians already working in the industry but researchers in institutions around Australia. All of the R&D supported by this fund must be performed in Australia and aimed at commercial development here.

There are elements of the plan specifically designed for the component sector, which goes to the $116 million structural adjustment program, including a $20 million supply chain development program and a $6.3 million market access program. This is a plan that will make Australian business stronger. It is a plan to create high-skilled, high-wage jobs. It is a plan to ensure that Australia remains one of the world’s great car-making countries, and it is a pity the opposition does not come to the party.