Andrew Giles (Scullin, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The member for Leichhardt painted quite a picture towards the end of his contribution that I will try and move past! This afternoon I met with students from Findon Primary School in Mill Park in my electorate. They were excited to be here and also excited, no doubt, at the possibilities before them. I would like to share their excitement, but it is hard, given the events of recent days, as I wrestle with the question: what can be done to secure good jobs for the communities in Melbourne's north where so many work in manufacturing and where we have so many opportunities that are being squandered. I speak today with respect to those immediately affected by business closures but also to our future—the sorts of jobs and communities we can look forward to, depending on choices that are now being made.

The then Leader of the Opposition, the member for Warringah, claimed to be the 'best friend of Australian workers' and that he wanted to see 'higher wages and more jobs'. With friends like our Prime Minister, one thing is crystal clear: Australian workers do not need an avowed enemy. They desperately need an advocate in place of this opposition in exile—a government consumed by its ideological project at the expense of a jobs plan. We saw the effects of this malign neglect with yesterday's announcement, which had an unfortunate air of deja vu about it, that Toyota would be leaving Australia by 2017. This is a national tragedy, not simply a challenge. The human cost is incalculable. It follows on from a growing number of manufacturers, as well as other businesses, who have made similar announcements since this government came into power. These closures are symptomatic of a government without a plan and, what is worse, a government that seeks to deflect blame onto workers who are the victims of this indolence. This is a government that behaves like an opposition. One only has to read or hear comments from government members to know that all they talk about is the labour movement, with not a word about governing.

It is worth noting that John Howard could have been characterised as better resembling a friend of automotive workers than the current Prime Minister. His government's Automotive Competitiveness and Investment Scheme initially ran for five years from 2001 before being renewed for another five years in 2005. The government of the day worked with, not against, the automotive industry to manage the transition. The then and now Minister for Industry, the member for Groom, described this as 'a decade of certainty for the automotive industry'. Today the only certainty for these employees is uncertainty.

We heard the Prime Minister today again trying to put the blame for job losses on the carbon tax. Previously, we have heard the Prime Minister and the Minister for Employment blame employees' pay and conditions, where there is simply no basis to do so. Yesterday, Toyota did not mention either the carbon tax or its employees' pay and conditions as being behind their decision to leave Australia. We have already heard from SPC Ardmona that its employees' pay and conditions are not to blame for their current situation, despite the Prime Minister's claims to the contrary.

We repeatedly hear the Treasurer harp on about the supposed 'age of entitlement'. However, much like the Prime Minister's claims about the excessive pay and conditions of Australian workers, this too is a stretch, an untruth. Let's talk about another entitlement, though: that of working men and women to a government that will stand up for them, that will try. It is one thing to fight and lose, quite another not to try—to assert, after the fact, inevitability in terms inconsistent with words spoken late last year, when modest co-investment could have made a difference.

The more than 1,100 people in Scullin currently employed in motor vehicle and motor vehicle part manufacturing deserve better. Decision-makers should have foremost in their minds a deep appreciation of what job loss means to individuals, the ways in which lives are reshaped, for the worse, as the member for Gellibrand reminded me in his passionate contribution to today's MPI debate. As of today, we must see a transition plan for the employees affected, so that they can build on and make use of their valuable skills, as well as transitioning support for component manufacturers in Scullin and across the country.

The workers affected by this government's contempt for the way they earn a living must be afforded a chance to succeed, but more than that, this government needs a plan, a concrete commitment to standing up for jobs. It could do much worse than emulate the jobs plan that federal Labor took to the last election, which included a new car plan, or Victorian Labor's plan for jobs and growth, which provides 67 practical and affordable initiatives to secure Victoria's economic future and repair the damage of the Napthine and Abbott governments' failure to act.

The people of Scullin—motor vehicle workers today and children like those from Findon primary tomorrow and into the future—need a government that sees jobs as more than a challenge but rather as an imperative, a government that really is a friend and supporter of Australian workers, a government that will put every effort into saving and securing jobs.