Dana Wortley (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator Carr. Can the minister update the Senate on the government’s new car plan for a greener future?

Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Wortley for her question and I am sure all senators would appreciate the importance of the automotive industry for South Australia. The government’s new car plan will secure investment in new technologies, new capacities and new jobs. The $6.2 billion 13-year New Car Plan for a Greener Future will drive innovation across the industry. The automotive sector employs over 60,000 people directly and many more indirectly. In 2004-05 the car industry used $3 billion worth of inputs from other branches of manufacturing and $8 billion worth of inputs from the service sector. Thousands of people were employed in providing these inputs. It has been estimated that at least 200,000 Australians owe their jobs to car making in this country. This industry is the cornerstone of Australian manufacturing and the lifeblood of communities across the nation.

A New Car Plan for a Greener Future is about making the industry stronger, greener and more innovative so it can go on building high-wage jobs now and into the future. It is about reinventing the industry. We want to see Australia produce fuel-efficient, low-emission vehicles for the world market, and that is what this plan will achieve. It includes an expanded Green Car Innovation Fund of $1.3 billion, which will be brought forward to 2009 and run for 10 years. It includes a better targeted, greener $3.4 billion assistance program; the Automotive Transformation Scheme, which will be run from 2011 to 2020; and support for structural adjustment and business improvement in the component sector. It will also involve an enhanced market access program, the new Automotive Industry Innovation Council and an expanded LPG vehicle scheme that doubles payments to purchasers of new vehicles using LPG technology. This is the most comprehensive plan ever devised for the Australian car industry. It is a long-term plan to deal with long-term challenges. These challenges include growing environmental concerns, volatile petrol pricing, increased competition and changing consumer preferences. The answer to these challenges is innovation. The government’s new car plan will give a huge boost to research and development.

Our aim is to create a green car industry that will provide quality, green-collar jobs—substantial and sustained jobs; quality jobs—that will be an essential part of tomorrow’s low-carbon economy. Our aim is to give Australia a head start in developing fuel-saving and carbon-cutting technologies that we can use at home and then sell to the world. Our aim is to give Australian consumers greener, safer, better designed, more affordable cars to choose from. Above all, our aim is to secure long-term investment that will see us through today’s global slowdown and set us up for a much stronger future. This plan is an essential part of the government’s broader green investment strategy to maintain Australia’s prosperity and living standards in a carbon constrained world. It is a great plan for the Australian car industry, for Australian manufacturing and for Australian jobs.

Dana Wortley (SA, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. Can the minister explain why the plan has been announced now?

Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The global financial crisis has thrown the difficulties confronting the industry into very sharp relief, not just in Australia but around the world. Germany is assisting its car makers, the United States is assisting its car makers, and President-elect Obama says he will make help for the auto industry a high priority. Yesterday, the member for North Sydney said that we did not know if immediate action was required. The opposition thinks that drift is the best option. In times of crisis, Australians expect their governments to act decisively, and that is what we have done. We have delivered better outcomes today and for the long term.

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, my question in fact follows on from the supplementary just asked and is to the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator Carr. Will the minister confirm that, as a result of the government’s bungled unlimited deposit guarantee and its devastating impact on the availability of credit for car dealers, one of Australia’s car manufacturers has approached the government seeking urgent assistance separate to that which was announced today?

Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

What I might say to Shadow Minister Abetz is: when he is indicating that he believes there is a particular company that has approached the government, would he like to specify which one? Could I ask him: in the context—

Nick Minchin (SA, Liberal Party, Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You’re in government now; you’ve got to answer the question.

Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Minchin puts to me that it is the government that answers the question. We are in the process of answering the question. We are in the process of developing decisive action. We are in the process of ensuring that this industry has a future. Senator Minchin would know, of course, that that stands in sharp contrast to the position that was taken by the previous government, which took the view that, in 2002, arrangements were made and the industry should be left on automatic pilot thereafter.

We are in the process of ensuring that we have constant discussions with all aspects of the industry. We are in the process of working with the industry to deal with the implications of the financial crisis as they relate to liquidity issues that arise across the industry—in dealerships and in small and large manufacturing plants. My department has facilitated meetings between the industry, the Treasury and the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet concerning this issue. The government has announced the most comprehensive plan the Commonwealth has ever developed—irrespective of which party was in government. We are in the process of answering the challenges, and I would call upon the opposition to support the government in these difficult times.

Eric Abetz (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I ask a supplementary question. That was a non-answer if ever I heard one. The question was specifically related to the availability of credit for car dealers. I ask: why does today’s package fail to address the critical credit issues facing Australia’s car dealers and therefore car manufacturers? Is it true that, unless this credit bungle is immediately addressed, at least one local manufacturer may exit Australia before today’s package is actually implemented?

Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I have indicated that the government is working with the automotive industry and the banking industry to develop practical solutions to the financial crisis that goes to the issue of dealership stocks. We are in the process of ensuring that practical solutions are evaluated. But these are matters that go to the broader financial questions facing the economy at large. What Senator Abetz is trying to do, as I understand it, is undermine the confidence of the industry by suggesting that a company is about to quit Australia. Frankly, I do not believe that to be a responsible attitude to take at a time when we are developing serious responses. Unfortunately, the opposition does not seem to see the need to have a serious policy response. It is a disappointment to the government— (Time expired)