Stephen Conroy (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Deputy Leader of the Opposition in the Senate) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate take note of the answers given by the Minister for Defence (Senator Johnston) and the Assistant Treasurer (Senator Sinodinos) to questions without notice asked today.

The government of Australia at the moment is playing politics with Australians' lives. If you look at what has occurred in this country since September last year, we have a litany of failures to support Australian families and Australian jobs, putting pressure on families' mortgages. We have a government that is prepared to goad Holden into announcing it was leaving Australia. Mr Hockey stood on the floor of the other place and goaded Holden. And what did Holden do? They followed Mr Hockey's lead and closed their business. Those opposite stood in silence as Toyota announced they were closing their doors because the ecosystem of the motor industry had collapsed—because of this government's indolence. Then, when it came to the closing of Alcoa, what did we hear? Absolutely nothing. With SPC, they tried to blackmail the company into cutting wages. In Tasmania we have contractors going to the wall, because those opposite, including Senator Bushby, said they were going to build fibre to the home—guaranteed—for every Tasmanian. What have we got? Contractors protesting in the streets of Tasmania and going broke, because this government misled them before the last election. And we have the defence shipping industry saying to this government right now that unless you give us some work thousands more Australians will lose their jobs. But, no, if you are a mate of the former chief of staff of Senator Nash or if you are a mate of Cadbury, you will get government money—lots of government money. Those opposite should hang their heads in shame that they are allowing thousands upon thousands of Australian families, and the jobs that support them, to be smashed on the altar of their free-market ideological rhetoric.

The Minister for Defence knows that there are up to 4,000 jobs on the chopping block unless he gets his act together and starts delivering some work for our defence shipping industry. It is quite extraordinary that a government is going to companies and telling them, 'You are not getting a handout unless you start slashing wages'—because that is what this government really believes. They believe it is the fault of the workers in the enterprises—they are to blame when it comes to why the companies are not doing well.

When those companies talk to the government and need assistance, what do they get? They get free-market, flat-earth ideology. This ideological campaign is putting thousands of workers on the scrap heap, except if you are in Tasmania and you work for Cadbury. When it comes to Qantas, what promises have been made over the last few weeks? What promises have been going on behind closed doors? That is what this government needs to stand up and be honest about. What promises were made to Qantas? What promises did Mr Hockey make? What promises did Mr Truss make? And what happened last night in cabinet when they got rolled? This is what Mr Truss said in December in relation to the Qantas Sale Act:

It would simply be a waste of time and political energy, when it is obvious that I think the majority of the Australian people and certainly the majority of the people elected to the parliament at the present time, especially in the Senate, do not favour that course of action.

And what did the cabinet come up with last night? They want to repeal the Qantas Sale Act. This is just another political stunt.

And here is Senator Bushby, just walking back into the chamber—the man who before the election promised every Tasmanian that they would get fibre to the home. He is the man responsible for contractors losing their jobs today in Tasmania, based on the promise that Senator Bushby made to them. (Time expired)

Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

If that is supposed to be a confidence booster for Senator Conroy after the debacle of his disgraceful performance in Senate estimates last week, he has a long way to go to redeem himself.

In regard to some of Senator Conroy's comments in respect of Tasmania and the Tasmanian economy, if you want to see an economy that has been devastated by the Labor Party, in partnership with the Greens, have a look at the Tasmanian economy. Tasmania, whose economy has been absolutely done over by the Labor Party over recent years in government, particularly in partnership with the Greens, both at a federal and a state level, is the state that shows how not to operate. Senator Conroy talks about NBN contractors in trouble in Tasmania. I will tell you why they are in trouble in Tasmania: it is because of the rates they were offered under Senator Conroy's contracts to construct the NBN, rates at which they could not make any money. That is why the contractors have problems. They invested tens of thousands of dollars in equipment to build the NBN and then they could not make money.

Then of course there is the issue of asbestos in pits that Senator Conroy did not contemplate. Talk about a debacle, a mess, that was left behind by Senator Conroy in the previous government and the destruction of the Tasmanian economy by the Labor Party in combination with the Greens over the last four years. Senator Conroy has absolutely no idea. If that is supposed to be a confidence boost with his return after last week, I can tell you it is a pretty poor effort.

With respect to the comments Senator Conroy made about Senator Bushby's commitments in Tasmania, what the coalition committed to in Tasmania was to meet the NBN contract. The issue that we have in Tasmania, as I have just been saying, is that the contractor does not want to meet the contract because they cannot make any money out of the rates that they were forced into under the NBN deal. Senator Conroy tries to portray this as a breach of promise by the coalition, yet it is a failure of the previous government in their set-up of the NBN and a complete misrepresentation of what was going to be offered to the Tasmanian people as part of their rollout of the NBN. It is a complete and utter failure.

With respect to the issue of the day—that is, Qantas—the Labor Party just do not get it. They expect a 21st century business to run on last-century regulation.

Senator Kim Carr interjecting—

Senator Kim John Carr should listen to what is being said here—

Opposition senators interjecting—

Stephen Parry (Tasmania, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Use the correct title, Senator Colbeck.

Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Mr Deputy President, it is his correct title. That is his correct name. I am using his full name in the context of this debate. Senators can jump to their comrade's defence; I am using Senator Carr's correct title. I acknowledge the standing orders about the use of a correct title and I am using his correct title. The Labor Party could do very well to look at what is happening. They expect a 21st century airline to run on regulation of last century. They expect—

Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader for Science) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

China Southern will fix it for you.

Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

You might like to go back to those days, Senator Carr. Senator Carr and the Labor Party want a 21st century airline to run on a regulatory environment of last century. They talk a lot about the 21st century and policy for the 21st century, but, when it comes to application, what do they do? They continue to do what they have done in the past; they continue to apply cost and regulation to industry and expect it to thrive. That is the policy of the Labor Party. They will not even listen to people from their own side of politics who understand how the economy works—people like the former member Mr Ferguson who has a commercial understanding—

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

Isn't he singing for his supper now!

Richard Colbeck (Tasmania, Liberal Party, Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Agriculture) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Sterle, I have to say: I have always had a lot of respect for Mr Ferguson because he understands the commercial world. He is not lost in the past. If you look at what is happening in the Labor Party right now, you will see it will be a long time before any industry or business in this country is going to get any sensible policy out of the Labor Party, because they are still lost in the last century. Despite talking about policy for the 21st century, they are nowhere near it. (Time expired)

Doug Cameron (NSW, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Human Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Listening to Senator Colbeck make that pathetic defence of the loss of 60,000 jobs in the economy is just mind-boggling, I must say. It is absolutely pathetic. We get a personal attack from Senator Colbeck when he should be talking about the jobs of workers at Qantas and trying to defend the government's decision about Qantas. I know why he has done what he has done. It is because the decision is absolutely indefensible. Surely you could have done better than that performance, Senator Colbeck?

When you repeal the Qantas Sale Act, you repeal the position of the maintenance of airlines in this country. You destroy the jobs of skilled maintenance workers in this country. We have over 6,000 skilled personnel in the Qantas engineering and maintenance area. The reality is that as soon as that sales act is lifted the engineering and maintenance of Qantas planes will be in Singapore, Hong Kong or elsewhere. They will not be here. They will be there because this government is not prepared to recognise the importance of a strong engineering and maintenance base for the airline industry in this country.

I heard some of the coalition senators talk about having to be competitive—'Just be competitive and everything will be okay.' Qantas said they established their maintenance facility back in 1920. There are 6,000 personnel employed now and over 300 apprentices. It is one of the biggest employers of apprentices in this country—and what did the coalition do? They just wiped them off the face of employment in this country, because they have no strategy for jobs in this country. Qantas say that their engineering standards are world-class, that their safety, quality, reliability and service is world-class. The big issue—and we have heard it time after time from the opposition—is that they do not want unionised workers and they do not want unionised workers earning a decent quid. They would sacrifice the maintenance jobs for the airline industry in this country on the altar of their ideology. There is absolutely no doubt about it. If another organised union shop bites the dust because the government is not prepared to help an icon company, so be it. Six thousand jobs could go to Singapore or Hong Kong—it will not matter; the opportunities for young Australians in the airline industry will be gone.

This is because this government have no idea about the reality of global trade and the global economy. They talk about everything as if it is simply some theoretical economic debate based on the economic philosophies of some right-wing ideologue from centuries ago. That is where they are at.

Let's look at the reality that Qantas is facing in the engineering and maintenance area. Advertised on the Careerjet website today were positions for an airstream technician and an engine technician. The salary was from $2,200 to $2,500 per month. That is the reality of global competition. What do the coalition say? They say, 'You need to match that $2,200 a month.' It is less than the minimum wage in Australia. A skilled technician in Singapore and Hong Kong is earning less than the minimum wage in Australia.

We have an airline that is so important to this country and our future, and they are going to let it go. (Time expired)

David Fawcett (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to take note of answers by Senator Sinodinos and Senator Johnston regarding the aviation industry in Australia and the Australian government's response. A lot of the focus today has been on Qantas, and that is understandable. Qantas has gone from, in the same period last year, a before-tax profit of $140 million to, this year, a loss of $252 million. Nearly half that—$106 million—was due to the carbon tax. Members opposite are very loudly saying, 'Ah, but Qantas are saying that is not important.' If you look carefully you will see that Qantas said, 'What is important to us is levelling the playing field against the competition, because removing the carbon tax benefits all the airlines.' So they did not actually say that the carbon tax was not important. They said that it was not their top priority because they wanted to level the playing field against their competition.

A clearer picture of the impacts of the carbon tax probably comes from Virgin and John Borghetti. Last year they had a before-tax profit of some $25 million. It has decreased now to almost $50 million. Of that, $27 million—over half—is because of the carbon tax. John Borghetti said that the best thing that the government and the opposition could do for airlines is remove the carbon tax. If the ALP and the Greens are really concerned about jobs and the future of the aviation industry, they should get out of the way and let the coalition implement its election promise to scrap the carbon tax.

The aviation industry more broadly is struggling. You have to ask why. It has not come about just in the last few months since the coalition formed government. In fact, the chief financial officer of Rex said that:

The entire aviation industry is financially haemorrhaging right now and approaching collapse.

Indeed, we saw Brindabella Airlines go into receivership in December last year with some $37 million of debt and 140 direct jobs lost, which means for its 12 aircraft there will be a whole raft of flow-on jobs in the maintenance and support sectors lost. That is because the ALP did not actually deliver with their white paper a strategic direction or an effective reform for the regulatory environment that the aviation sector works under. It is those things—in conjunction with things such as the carbon tax—that are helping to create the environment that is making it so difficult for the aviation sector here to get ahead.

That is why I welcome the coalition's promise of reforming the CASA board. We see that the coalition will be increasing the size of board to bring skills of aviation engineering and operations onto that board. We also see reform of the regulatory sector, which is undergoing an inquiry right now.

But this is not only about the aviation sector. The opposition are making lots of comments about loss of jobs in the auto sector. If we look at the time frame for Ford, Holden and Toyota, it was not the coalition at the helm when the conditions were set for those job losses. In fact, Mike Devereux, the then general manager of Holden, said that one of the biggest issues is when global companies like GM start talking about sovereign risk in countries like Australia. The decisions the former government made to introduce things such as the carbon tax as well as reverse policy on programs that the car industry was relying on have resulted in that sovereign risk.

But, more importantly, particularly to the people of South Australia, Labor's approach has impacted on things such as mining. In August 2012, BHP decided to halt their Olympic Dam development despite the fact that, as recently as this year, Andrew McKenzie, their CEO, was reported in the media as showing the graphs demonstrating that copper supply will start decreasing by about 2016 and that demand will increase—so that the whole copper-uranium mine at Olympic Dam had huge potential. Why did it not go ahead? It was because one of the most expensive parts of copper extraction is electricity. That mine has a 100-year life, according to DMITRE. So in 2050, just when BHP could be expected to start to recoup some of their upfront investment, the carbon tax that the ALP brought in was going to go up to $350 a tonne. Clearly if electricity is your highest cost then the carbon tax is going to make that unviable.

As the people of South Australia approach an election on 15 March, they need to have a good look at what the ALP do. They need to make the decision that they will not have four more years of the ALP at a state level because they have seen a very clear example of what the ALP at the federal level have done to jobs in this country through job-destroying taxes such as the carbon tax—not to mention their refusal to get out of the way and let us implement our election commitment now. (Time expired)

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

I sit here and wonder sometimes how it all gets to this, but unfortunately that is the game we are in. Politicians are given five minutes to get out there and defend the government, so we have to listen to all sorts of nonsense. But I would like to come back to the issue at hand. I would like to address the answers to questions given by Ministers Johnston and Sinodinos today.

I would like to take a minute to put a personal slant on this. In my past life as an organiser with the Transport Workers Union after my trucking career finished, I got to organise at Qantas. I organised Qantas flight catering with some 400-odd employees in Perth. I also organised the Qantas Chairman's Lounge employees. My heart goes out to Qantas employees. When I think of the 5,000 full-time-equivalent jobs that Qantas announced last Thursday would be lost, the first thing I think is that it is not 5,000—because Qantas has myriad part-time and casual employees. So when they say 5,000 full-time jobs, I have no idea how many people will be affected.

A generic email was sent to all of us by Qantas. It was from a fellow by the name of Andrew Parker, Group Executive Government and International Affairs, who virtually did the standard, 'Dear Senator, Mr Joyce wants you to know things are pretty crook and this is what might happen.' I wrote back to Mr Parker straightaway—and I want to quote my actual words because I want to personalise the thought and the pain of the Qantas workers and the uncertainty of who might go when and where. I said: 'Thanks, Andrew. I have read the Qantas statement and now ask if would you please supply me with a very specific and detailed breakdown of where within the Qantas groups the jobs will go—and what number and when.' I then went on to say: 'Would you also provide me with a comprehensive list of all international and domestic routes that will be slashed and/or replaced with Jetstar or just dropped altogether? Awaiting your reply, Senator Glenn Sterle.' I am still waiting.

You see, this is what brings me round to the Qantas workers and not to the ridiculous politics that gets played in this and the other chamber about who has got the biggest, hairiest chest. I do care about these jobs. I want to know what is going on. My thoughts about the CEO's position, the board and the chairman are very well documented. But I am going to be above that today because I want to see Australian jobs saved. I think it is extremely important that we do everything we can to give our national carrier the opportunity to survive its myriad problems, a number of those problems having arisen from the shocking decisions made by management over the last few years.

But let's not forget what the Qantas Sale Act addressed. It set out that the principal maintenance, catering, head office and other operations must stay in Australia. On the subject of jobs going, I will tell you what happened when I was organising the Qantas flight catering in Perth. This may come as a shock, but when Qantas used to fly direct to Denpasar in Bali, management took the decision that it was cheaper to get the catering done in Denpasar, where the health and safety standards were nowhere near the standard of the Australian operations. If they could double cater from Denpasar back to Perth then up to Denpasar, the people on the planes were thinking, 'We're eating Qantas food made by Qantas workers to Australian standards.' But that was bulldust. It was nowhere near Australian standards.

I fear that there will be a heck of a lot more than the 5,000 jobs that will go—and they will go overseas. But it is important for Australians to understand the deviousness of that suggestion of 5,000 jobs. It was plucked out of the air. No-one can tell me where they are going to come from. The jobs will come back. They will come back. They will not all be Australian, but I guarantee they will be contracted out. If Australians think that they are purchasing Australian food of Australian quality and made to Australian standards, they should think again—because Indonesia is only a couple of hours flight away.

I am disgusted at some of the quality of the argument here and at the insincerity of the Abbot government saying how wonderful they are going to be by letting Qantas break up the international from the domestic. This is about Australian jobs, Australian apprenticeships and Australian kids having a future in our aviation industry. (Time expired)

Question agreed to.