Ken O'Dowd (Flynn, National Party) Share this | Hansard source

Manufacturing in Australia is on a knife edge. There is no denying that. The government's carbon tax is proving to be job destroying and confidence crushing. Over the last five years since 2008, 109,000 jobs have been lost in manufacturing. The Gillard government proved its negligence of and contempt for the manufacturing sector when it dumped the manufacturing portfolio in December 2011, before realising its mistake and reinstating it.

The Australian manufacturing industry once enjoyed a huge competitive advantage. It had access to cheap and abundant energy and access to cheap water. Now the industry has to cope with a $23-per-tonne carbon tax, which will increase on 1 July each year rising to $350 per tonne by the year 2050. That is something for the industry to look forward to indeed.

Some industries receive bailout money while others are ignored. There is no formula with this government on who gets it and who does not. It is just handed out on a whim. There is no science behind it they wants industry to survive. As we all know, the high Australian dollar has made market conditions difficult for our manufacturers.

But the implementation of a carbon tax has significantly added to the pressures, and the government says, to the contrary, 'It's going to be okay; everyone's going to thrive.' As the people on this side say, if it is such a good thing, why not double it? Why not triple it?

The 20 per cent by 2020 renewable energy target has also added to the problems of the manufacturing industry, and it affects their bottom line. The 20 per cent renewable energy target cannot be achieved by 2020—and, if it is, it is going to be too expensive, which will add another burden to our manufacturing arm.

Repeated budget deficits are placing pressure on interest rates and the availability of capital, as the government is competing in the money market with our private enterprise. This means that many Aussie businesses and manufacturers are surviving on paper-thin margins. How much longer can they take to get back into profit? As the member on the other side has just said, they hope to come into profit soon. How soon is 'soon'?

Industries affected by the government's destructive policies include steel—BlueScope, OneSteel. When they put up their hands and asked for help they were told by this government: 'Get used to the new world.' What does that mean?

Vehicles and car-component manufacturers are also under the pump. Toyota and Ford not only have to compete against each other in Australia but have to compete with other plants run by Toyota, Ford and Holden in other parts of the world. They rely on 50 per cent local consumption of their vehicles and 50 per cent for the overseas market. If one of those markets falls, the car industry is in deep trouble. The carbon tax will cost the car industry about $500 million a year, but the government says, 'Well, we will refund them $500 million a year.'

Cement companies that are based in my town of Gladstone are under the pump as well. They have to compete with the Chinese clinker, which can be imported cheaper than they can produce them in Gladstone. Chemical companies like Orica, which again are situated in Gladstone, are facing competition from overseas. Our food and food processors certainly have to compete.

The cost of aluminium production is about $2,300 a tonne. The current price for aluminium is about $2,000 a tonne. Glass, and the rag trade—textiles—are also disappearing. You cannot buy locally made stubbies, shorts or uniforms—they now all come to us from overseas. They are all under the pump. The government have perfected the art of chasing our industries offshore. They are doing a very good job at that—that is about the only good job they are doing.

The carbon tax is a total contradiction: whilst our emissions will go down, globally they will increase. Our cement industry in Gladstone is the most efficient plant in the world—and yet, if we were to lose that plant to some overseas country, you would find that Australia's best practice, as with a lot of industries in Australia, would be lost to other countries that can produce a similar product but for a much lower price.

The carbon tax has elevated costs in the transport, power, logistics and refrigeration industries. A friend of mine who has a hotel in Yeppoon told me at a luncheon that his electricity prices have risen from $12,000 a month to $19,000 a month—and that spells a loss of jobs for that industry. The power bill of the cement industry in Gladstone has risen by $1 million a year. That puts that industry under a lot of pressure.

The Gillard government has failed to reward those companies who have had voluntary programs to reduce their emissions. The aluminium industry has reduced its emissions by 26 per cent since 1990. Cement companies have reduced their emissions by 20 per cent since 1990 and reduced their carbon intensity by 24 per cent per tonne. Meatworks, and all sorts of other industries, have reduced their emissions—not because of the carbon tax but on their own initiative and their own pride in their workplace. And now those particular industries are being punished by this reckless government.

Senator Penny Wong, on 21 and 22 June 2012, could not define what a 'green job' was; she could not give an example of one. And they say these green jobs are going to replace the tens of thousands of manufacturing jobs that have been lost. They just don't get it—no-one can tell me what a green job is and how they are going to replace the manufacturing jobs. They cannot. The government has conceded that the carbon tax has brutalised the Australian manufacturing sector. The coalition knows what needs to be done: we need to scrap the tax and give our manufacturers a fighting chance.

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