Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Defence Materiel) Share this | Hansard source

Of course such a claim is nonsense, and it is the sort of ignorant statement that you hear from the so-called insiders in Canberra who think that manufacturing should be someone else's problem. We see in the United States that that is not the view that is being pursued. President Obama's auto package is in fact costing about $264 per person—compared to Australia's support, which is less than the price of a footy ticket. We see a similar approach has been taken in Germany by their government. In England, we see a conservative government is taking the position that the automotive industry is central to the future of Britain. Yet in this country the Liberal Party have not heard that message. They have not understood the fundamentals—that is, that the future of manufacturing in this country depends on our ability to ensure that we make technologically advanced componentry and technologically advanced products, which of course the automotive industry produces. We know that the future prosperity of this country depends on the ability of manufacturers to— (Time expired)