Julia Gillard (Lalor, Australian Labor Party, Prime Minister) Share this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Corangamite for his question—and the circumstances of 1,200 Ford workers are no laughing matter. The workers involved are clearly still dealing with the stress and shock which comes with being told late last week that their jobs will not be continuing after October 2016. This is a very serious matter, and I can assure the House it is taken very seriously by the government.

As a result of our view that working people in these circumstances must be treated with dignity and respect, the government has already announced that for the individual Ford workers involved—the nearly 1,200 workers who now know that their jobs will not be continuing—we will roll out the most intensive form of employment assistance, working with them to help them find another opportunity beyond their jobs at Ford.

What I can certainly say about those working people is that they are highly skilled; they are proud of what they do because they are so highly skilled. You meet people who have got their skills in the automotive industry in so many other walks of life, and we will work with them to seize a new opportunity.

Second, we understand that this announcement by Ford has implications up the supply chain for those who work making the components that Ford uses, which is why we have already announced that we will add to a current program—a $30 million program—an additional $10 million of investment from the federal government and $2 million of investment from the Victorian state government to work with those component companies in the supply chain to keep diversifying their opportunities to sell their products.

We understand that this is a serious matter for the communities of Geelong and the greater region—and, of course, I am asked this question by the member for Corangamite and this is of very great significance to the area he represents in this parliament. It is also of very great significance to the area of Broadmeadows and associated areas in Melbourne's north and west where people who work at the Broadmeadows plant live. So we have allocated $30 million, joined by $9 million from the Victorian government, and we call on Ford to make a sizeable contribution in order to assist with getting new opportunities and new sources of growth into those regional economies.

We will keep working with local communities, with Ford workers and with suppliers. I am very determined, despite the shock of this news for those people, that no-one is left behind and that the government works with them to seize a new opportunity for the future.

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