Glenn Sterle (WA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

It is always a pleasure to follow on from Senator Abetz so that I can put some sense into the debate. I also rise to take note of questions and answers given today. You would have to have been living in a cocoon to not understand that the world is facing the worst global financial crisis since the depression in the early part of last century. It just baffles me to hear some of the tripe that comes from those opposite. If they were fair dinkum about improving Australia’s lot and securing us for the future, you would think that they would not have spent all that time blocking budget bills as they did earlier on this year.

The Rudd government is acting now for Australia’s long-term future. This may come as a shock to those opposite: we on the Labor side of politics, in the Rudd Labor government, do not make decisions to get us through from poll to poll like the previous Howard government. At the beginning of every month they lived for the Newspoll to come out so they could see how they were travelling and what they could invent for a new issue and how to avoid major issues like workplace relations, emissions and global warming. It really does alarm me that this is the intelligentsia in charge of questions on the other side of the chamber.

I want to talk more about the car industry, as Senator Abetz started the ball rolling. Yesterday I noted with glee that, in this chamber, Senator Carr announced the saving of some 1,300 jobs in the fine Victorian city of Geelong. I would have thought that we would have been congratulated and patted on the back for taking that initiative—unlike those opposite, who in their 12 years hid under the guise of productivity and flexibility and could not wait to see jobs disappear.

While I am at it, I will congratulate the Rudd Labor government on its announcement today of the Fair Work Bill. This really is a wonderful day, yet I have to stand up here and defend our initiatives in saving the car industry and listen to some of the rubbish coming out of Senator Abetz’s mouth about what we are not doing. For goodness sake—$6.2 billion to prop our car industry. Whether the other side of politics likes it or not, I think we should be congratulated for doing everything we can to save jobs and, very importantly, save manufacturing jobs in this country. One thousand three hundred jobs were saved yesterday.

I want to talk a bit more about our $6.2 billion plan to make the automotive industry more economically and environmentally sustainable by 2020. It would help if those opposite actually realised that this government was given a mandate at the last election. Whether they like it or not, the people of Australia voted with their feet. One of the major issues that resoundingly tipped the scales in favour of the Rudd Labor government was climate change. There are no ifs or buts about that. We make no apologies on this side of the chamber for doing everything we can not only to secure Australia’s future prosperity but to tackle climate change. If that means putting $6.2 billion into a plan to save Australia’s automotive industry, then congratulations to us—well done. This is what we should be doing; we should be planning for the future and not going from Newspoll to Newspoll like that lot opposite.

I will take the opportunity to talk about those opposite, because it is great to see Senator Abetz leading the argument. I was flicking through the papers early this morning and I noticed an article by Christian Kerr in the Australian talking about the ‘Libs’ growing hunger’. There are a couple of lines that I want to quote of Mr Kerr’s interviews. I think that he was talking to a number of anonymous frontbenchers from the opposition. One of his quotes is:

Although they will not say so directly—

‘they’ being those opposite—

many Liberals were relieved John Howard lost his seat in last year’s election.

There are a lot of good, hardworking members of parliament who unfortunately lose their seats through no fault of their own. But I have to be fair to the unnamed frontbencher or those who would not own up: I was quite happy that Mr Howard lost his seat at the last election too.

But another quote that was used, and no-one put a name to it, was:

‘We’ve—

being the Liberals, I assume—

got rid of the biggest problem, which was the leadership …’

Great! One would think you get rid of the biggest problem, the leadership, and everything works out fine. But it goes on:

‘When Nelson’s leadership terminated, the influence of a lot of the old Howard brigade—

I hope those opposite are listening—

was terminated too.

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