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

I have not written to them. I indicate to you now, Senator, that I have not written to them. But of course I have indicated that we are forming a national innovation council on which the states will be represented and which will provide the opportunity to actually advance this agenda on an ongoing basis, because the first and foremost aim of this plan is to actually maintain and create jobs, not just in the car industry but in all of those industries that supply it and depend on it. When we talk about jobs in the car industry, we have to consider not just the 65,000 workers directly employed but the 200,000 or more workers who owe their jobs to this industry in one way or another.

Senator Joyce would be only too well aware of how important it is to maintain as many jobs in this industry as possible and of how important is this plan, which is about transforming the industry in ways that are able to generate new and sustainable jobs for the years ahead. We will be talking to the states about the ways in which we can green up the industry, which will inevitably change the nature of the work that it does and the nature of the jobs that it provides. There will increasingly be jobs which might be described as green-collar jobs, jobs with a future in a low-carbon economy—and all of the states that are associated with the car industry have a strong commitment to those.

This is a plan designed to give Australia a head start in developing fuel-saving and carbon-cutting technologies for the global market. Of course the states are very much interested in that because, as the demand for new technology grows, there will also be new job opportunities that will grow, Senator Joyce. The plan requires significant co-investment from the industry of up to $18 billion—in fact, probably much, much more than that. The states will be involved in that. That has been the basis of my discussion with the premiers. We are serious about attracting the kinds of investments that are needed to boost innovation, to create jobs and to provide certainty—unlike the opposition, which is all about saying anything and doing anything and undermining confidence, undermining jobs, undermining prosperity and undermining certainty for Australian working families. The opposition has not made up its mind as to whether or not it supports the automotive industry in this country.