Alan Ferguson (SA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research, Senator Carr. Will the minister confirm that, despite the government spending $6.2 billion on a new car plan, it is forecasting that the number of jobs in the car industry will shrink even further?

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

Senator Ferguson—

Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You did nothing for 11½ years!

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Carr, resume your seat. One of your own is interjecting on you, and it makes it difficult for the people who need to hear the answer.

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

I thank the senator for his question. I would trust that all members of this chamber would acknowledge that the Australian automotive industry is at the backbone of Australian manufacturing. I would trust that all members of this chamber would support strengthening the Australian automotive industry in the face of a global economic crisis. I say to the senator: I do not make promises that this government cannot keep. We on this side of the chamber are committed to strengthening the Australian automotive industry to provide security of investment by encouraging a stable, long-term investment climate for the industry. Our package is about attracting new investment and creating new job opportunities. In a climate of great insecurity in the global economic financial system, you should not indulge in irresponsible speculation about the fate of individual companies, as Senator Abetz has been doing, nor should you make irresponsible promises about what can be done about every single job within Australian manufacturing at this time.

Frankly, it is embarrassing to watch a divided opposition trying to figure out where they actually stand on a question of such vital national significance. Do they have a policy on the Australian car industry? No. They have left the industry on automatic pilot for years. That is their policy: automatic pilot. All we have seen so far, Senator Ferguson, is self-serving, self-congratulatory rhetoric from each pretender to the leadership of the Liberal Party who is seeking to establish their 15 minutes of fame. We have the member for North Sydney, who says, ‘I don’t know that it is necessarily the right thing to hand money immediately to the motor vehicle industry in Australia without knowing whether those companies are going to merge or whether they will even exist in 12 months.’ In other words, they are saying, ‘Not now. We don’t want to support this industry now.’

The member for Warringah says, ‘There have been a lot of assistance packages for the car industry, and the real issue for any future package is: just how long is it going to last?’ He says, ‘Will the car industry in this country ever be able to stand on its own two feet?’ In other words, the member for Warringah says, ‘We’ll support them—but not ever.’ That is his real position. Talk about two bob each way. And, of course, we have Senator Abetz, who says: ‘Kim Carr is claiming that $6.2 billion over 13 years is a better package. It isn’t when you have to take into account the number of years it is spread over.’ In other words, Senator Abetz says, ‘It’s not enough.’ So we have three positions from the opposition. We have one that says, ‘We don’t support it now,’ one that says, ‘We don’t support it ever,’ and one that says, ‘It’s not enough’. Those are the three positions that the opposition are presenting. Which is it? Not enough, not now or not ever? What is the position of the Liberal Party? Senator Abetz stood up in this chamber yesterday and said, ‘The coalition’s best friend— (Time expired)

Alan Ferguson (SA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Despite the fact that that answer bore no relation to the question, I ask a supplementary question. Exactly how many car industry workers does the government expect to lose their jobs over the next two years, given that it has set aside $34 million out of yesterday’s car package for a car worker redundancy scheme?

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

We have indicated that the new car plan starts from 1 November. We are being told in the public arena that it does not start for some time. The opposition once again ought to get its facts straight, because we have a situation, as I said, where we have three positions from the opposition. The three positions are: not enough, not now and, of course, not ever.

Alan Ferguson (SA, Deputy-President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr President, I raise a point of order. The question I asked was: how many car industry workers does the government expect to lose their jobs over the next two years, seeing that it has set aside $34 million as a car worker redundancy scheme? I cannot see what relevancy that has to any three positions that Senator Carr implies that the opposition might have.

John Hogg (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

There is no point of order, as you know, Senator Ferguson. I cannot tell the minister how to answer the question. I can draw the minister’s attention to the question and the need to remain relevant to the question. Minister, you now have 35 seconds left to answer the question.

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

Under this opposition when in government, 7,000 jobs were lost from the automotive industry—7,000 jobs. With friends like this, who needs enemies? We have seen from Senator Abetz yesterday a reckless and disgraceful attack on the integrity of a major Australian business and a major Australian employer, which of course reveals the real intentions of the opposition. It will say anything and it will do anything to get momentary advantage in a time of national challenges which we have to face up to. (Time expired)