Cory Bernardi (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

Following Senator Carr, I cannot help but reflect that if he were an educated man and had a PhD of his own, he would be a doctor of negativity because all he can do is criticise and carp and whine. He is critical of the free-trade agreements that this government has finalised, which the previous government failed to do. He is critical of the G20. He is just down on Australia. It is the most appalling indictment of a former minister of the Crown. Now, he is critical of the National ICT Australia initiative—an initiative, might I point out, that was introduced by the Howard government in 2002. This government is committed to funding that with $85 million over the next two years.

It was always intended to be one of those significant points of difference between those who support free enterprise and industry and those who support government welfare and dependency on the other side. NICTA, when it was started, was an incubator. It was starting an embryonic thing that was funded by government until it could stand alone. Standing alone means having investment in it, not just government and taxpayer funds but private investment from domestic and international organisations. And that is precisely the conversation that the minister is having with the Chancellor of Germany. It is about getting private funding from German companies interested in investing in Australia. Somehow that is an abandonment of a great initiative of the Howard government. It is nonsense.

The problem we have with Senator Carr is: as an industry minister, he presided over the demise and the closure of the motor vehicle manufacturing facilities in this country. He was the guy whose great incentive, whose great mission to embrace new technology was to send SMSs into outer space in case the aliens would come along and respond to them. How could anyone take that seriously? Have you had any responses yet, Senator Carr? Has any alien got back to you yet and said, 'Hello, thanks for your kind message'?

Senator Kim Carr interjecting—