Senate debates

Tuesday, 1 December 2015

Committees

Economics References Committee; Report

4:07 pm

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

On behalf of the Chair of the Senate Economics References Committee, I present the report on Australia's automotive industry together with the Hansard record of proceedings and documents presented to the committee.

Ordered that the reports be printed.

I move:

That the Senate take note of the report.

I would like to say a few words about this report. Australia's automotive industry is undergoing fundamental transformation, and I use the word 'transformation' deliberately. I am not one of the doomsayers who believe that the industry will die when the last locally produced car rolls off the production line at the end of 2017. Labor remains confident that with the right policy settings Australia can attract new automotive manufacturing investment and, beyond manufacturing, the automotive industry involves much more than the production of passenger cars. These other activities will include the aftermarket manufacturing; engineering and design; the manufacture and adaption of large trucks and other heavy vehicles; retailing, servicing and smash repairs; sales support; automotive dealerships; and training.

There is no doubt that beyond 2017 the automotive industry will continue and will include manufacturing in some form. The real question is what will be the scope and the extent of manufacturing activity, and the answer to that question will depend upon government policy. That is why 12 months ago the Senate referred this matter to the Economics References Committee. The committee's interim report, tabled in August, made recommendations intended to support the component manufacturers, the section of the industry most vulnerable to the departure of car markers. It is vital that the industry capabilities they possess are maintained.

The automotive industry has always been the great repository of skills and knowledge in advanced manufacturing in Australia, and preserving those skills will be the key to attracting new investment. It will be the people that attract the investment. We have got to have the right trained people to maintain the capacities to attract that investment.

The main recommendations of the interim report concern the provision of co-investment through the Automotive Transformation Scheme. The inquiry called on the government to maintain funding under the scheme through to 2021 as the ATS Act provides. The inquiry also recommended the eligibility of ATS be broadened and that it be reconfigured as an advanced manufacturing, engineering and design scheme. It would still be automotive related but it would be able to assist supply chain firms in diversification and entering new markets.

The final report expressed the committee's conviction that the government should set in place policies that encourage diversification, growth and innovation in automotive manufacturing in Australia. It calls for a whole-of-government approach, with the allocation of resources from a range of departments to ensure that the processes of transformation continue. To facilitate this and to develop a coordinated national framework for automotive policy, the committee calls on the government to establish an automotive industry task force. The task force, with representatives from industry, from unions and from governments, would build on the work of the AutoCRC and the Automotive Australia 2020 road map project. This was an integral part of the New Car Plan, which, of course, provided for the opportunities to be identified for future investment and future growth in the automotive industry in this country.

The final report also makes recommendations intended to avoid a social and economic catastrophe in the regions most directly affected by the shutdown in car-making, particularly in Victoria and in South Australia. I might add that there is not a state in the Commonwealth that will not be directly affected with massive job losses as a consequence of the government's actions in driving General Motors and Toyota out of Australia. No-one pretends that the impact will be anything other than severe.

This should be seen not just as a time of challenge but as a time of new opportunities. If we develop policy wisely and we preserve our skills and knowledge base, the automotive industry will survive—and not just survive; it will flourish. There are international precedents for this kind of revival. At the end of the 1980s, the United Kingdom automotive industry was predicted to die in much the same way as some of the smarties in this town have suggested about the Australian automotive industry. Of course, that was a direct result of the devastation of Margaret Thatcher.

But in the United Kingdom the automotive industry did not die.

Senator Bernardi interjecting

No, the automotive manufacturer Holden was driven out of this country by the actions of Mr Hockey and the acting Prime Minister at the time, who goaded General Motors to leave, and now we have a consequence where it will cost considerably more—I mean many, many times more—in social security payments and other disaster relief as a consequence of the actions of this government than will ever be spent in terms of co-investment for this industry.

I put to you that in the United Kingdom a similar experience was seen to happen but both sides in politics came to realise how important the automotive industry was to the United Kingdom. In the United Kingdom now the Conservative government is investing heavily in co-investment so that the British automotive industry is amongst the most prosperous in the world. The United Kingdom probably has the largest export sector in Europe and it has come a long way from the devastation of Margaret Thatcher. The United Kingdom automotive industry is now a world leader and that is because it has become a bipartisan issue, yet again, as support for the automotive industry once was in this country.

There is no reason in my mind why this could not happen here. The two reports of this inquiry show the necessary policy work has already begun. But what is really needed here is political will. I urge senators on all sides of the chamber to study the committee's report carefully, to adopt its recommendations and to help build the future of the Australian automotive industry.

4:15 pm

Photo of Matthew CanavanMatthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | | Hansard source

I do not question Senator Carr's commitment to see a strong automotive sector in this country and I do not question his prognosis either that there is a bright future still there for the automotive sector in this country. I do, however, take some issue with Senator Carr's proposed remedy because he is proposing to continue doing what we have been doing for years. Colours of both political sides have, for years, been investing in this sector through the Strategic Investment Program, through the Automotive Transformation Scheme but, of course, none of that investment has been able to maintain the commitments of major international car manufacturers like Ford, Holden or Toyota to this nation. Indeed, Senator Carr likes to mention General Motors Holden but he also likes to ignore the fact that Ford made a decision to leave this nation under the former Labor government.

I do not attribute blame to a particular government for that decision. Those decisions have been made due to trends affecting the entire globe. But to think that more investment, more government money, more spending on this industry is going to massively transform the underlying economics simply defies the history here because that is what the history has been over the last decade. It cannot stop that transition. What we need to do is support our automotive sector into a different type of manufacturing. I agree with Senator Carr that there is a bright future for those manufacturers who can do that. It will be a different industry than what we had in the past, but it is a different world today from what it was in the past.

That is why the government is continuing to support the automotive supply chain through the Automotive Diversification Program. I note this committee has suggested that there needs to be more support for automotive manufacturers to diversify and find new markets. The government already has a program for that. It has already announced $12.4 million in funding for that. I am keen to ensure that that program continues and keen to monitor it over time if there is a need for more investment in that way, but we should let that program work first.

Of course, not all areas of the automotive supply chain will stay in that business. That is why we have a $60 million Next Generation Manufacturing Investment Program—to provide some leverage or some support for those manufacturers, those businesses that would seek to diversify into non-automotive manufacturing sectors. Again, already 11 Victorian companies have shared in $27.4 million of support, which is expected to leverage $75 million in total investment. In South Australia, 15 businesses have received $28.3 million in government support—hoping to end up with a total private and public sector investment of $72.5 million.

Of course, the government has also signed three new free-trade agreements and, recently, the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, which will provide greater access for our component manufacturing sector, in particular, to overseas markets. Those agreements will play an integral role in seeing a brighter future for our automotive sector, because that future probably will not involve the end-to-end manufacture of complete vehicles. But there certainly can be a role for our sector to be part of supply chains in our region and to be part of those supply chains they need market access.

I also note the report makes some comment on the vibrancy of our truck manufacturing sector, a sector which, traditionally, has not received substantial government support, which confirms coalition senators' overall view on these matters—that we do not need a government teat to help wean a strong automotive sector in this country. We have a strong automotive sector in truck manufacturing. It has not received substantial government support but it has done that by being competitive, by being innovative and by serving domestic needs in a very professional way.

I note that the committee's majority report has recommended that there be some changes to the fuel tax credit system for trucks manufactured before 1996. The report recommends that older trucks no longer be able to claim fuel tax credits. We disagree with that particular recommendation. We feel it would be particularly harmful to owner-operators in our country, who often rely on using older trucks—my father-in-law being one—and we do not see any real policy rationale for denying fuel tax credits to certain operators simply because of the age of their truck. Obviously, trucks—

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

The pollution level of their truck!

Photo of Matthew CanavanMatthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | | Hansard source

need to meet pollution levels, Senator Carr, and they obviously need to meet those standards. They obviously need to meet safety standards on roads as well. Providing that they can do that and are updated in a way commensurate with those obligations, there seems no real reason to deny them fuel tax credits, which is an integral part of the way we pay for road investment in this country.

I note that there are some other recommendations from the committee.

Photo of Bill HeffernanBill Heffernan (NSW, Liberal Party) Share this | | Hansard source

And tractors!

Photo of Matthew CanavanMatthew Canavan (Queensland, Liberal National Party) Share this | | Hansard source

Yes, Senator Heffernan, we are actually speaking about fuel tax credits. You are right to raise the importance of a fuel tax rebate as well but that is a slightly different issue than what is before the chair. The committee has made a number of other recommendations, which, I think, the government could usefully examine, particularly with regard to: the franchising code of conduct; the service and smash repair industries, which have been under review for some years; training and re-employment initiatives; specialist and enthusiast vehicles; and regulatory arrangements for aftermarket modifications.

I do want to credit the Senate Standing Committee on Economics for its work in this area. Again, I recognise Senator Carr's passion and that of some of my coalition members. We did have extensive hearings on this particular issue. As with most committees, it is a bit like the curate's egg: there are some very good parts of this report, some we disagree with, but it is still a very useful exercise to investigate and inquire into an extremely important industry in our nation and one that I hope and believe will continue to be so.

4:22 pm

Photo of Janet RiceJanet Rice (Victoria, Australian Greens) Share this | | Hansard source

The Australian Greens recognise that there are significant challenges facing the industries and the workforces of Australia's automotive manufacturing sector. This Senate inquiry into the future of the automotive industry has brought to light very important evidence demonstrating how these challenges are impacting the various businesses, workers and communities engaged with automotive manufacturing currently in Australia. There are so many people and businesses who stand to be directly and significantly impacted by the changes ahead in our auto industry. There are a lot of people who are worried about what lies ahead.

The committee report provides a set of strong recommendations following the inquiry into the issues faced by the automotive industry. The Greens support these recommendations, but we submitted additional comments because we want to highlight a number of areas where the majority report fails to emphasise timely action in order to insulate against the collapse of key industries.

We need to move fast. The automotive components industry is in crisis and, without prompt action, there is a real prospect that most of the components industry will not survive the transition. Successive governments' lack of action to support transition in the industry could see the components sector collapse and the big car makers leave even earlier than they are intending to, with potentially devastating consequences for hundreds of thousands of workers and their families.

Electric mobility is the future. There is such potential to join the shift to electric and alternative fuel vehicles, which will enable us to reap enormous benefits in both the economy and the environment. Electric vehicles are cleaner and can be powered by renewable energy. They can contribute to electricity demand management by providing battery storage to the grid. Over the coming decades, electric vehicles are going to join the internet, mobile communications and distributed energy in transforming our economy and society. It is clear that the government can play a role in creating a domestic market for electric vehicles.

We agree with the majority recommendation in the report tabled today, which is to redefine the Automotive Transformation Scheme into a broader automotive related advanced manufacturing, engineering and design program that is intended to maintain skills and industrial capabilities and to stop the loss of jobs by supporting supply chain diversification, new manufacturing investment and jobs growth. But, critically, we believe there should be a time frame placed on this recommendation to ensure this occurs as a matter of urgency, given the imminent exit of the big three car manufacturers.

Opportunities are going to be missed if a new plan is not put in place soon. Ford's planned exit in 2016, together with shrinking forward orders in the components sector, frees up what is estimated to be $800 million in savings in the Automotive Transformation Scheme, which can be redirected and spent on a longer term jobs plan. We support the recommendation to broaden the object of the Automotive Transformation Scheme to drive diversification and transformation activities. We think that electric or alternative fuel vehicles and renewable energy technologies should be priorities for this transformed scheme.

We note the majority recommendation for government to urgently develop and implement a coordinated strategy to avoid a social and economic catastrophe associated with the closure of vehicle manufacturing. But we would like to see some meat on the bones of this recommendation in order to ensure that such a strategy has a level of guidance based on the evidence that was presented to our committee. For example, we would see value in highlighting issues such as skills and job transitions, community support and services and appropriately targeted industry investment.

We also note the recommendation in the majority report to conduct a review of the Voluntary Code of Practice for Access to Service and Repair Information for Motor Vehicles. We believe that the voluntary nature of this code, as it is at the moment, should be a central aspect of that review, because the committee heard compelling evidence that so far this code has had very poor take-up and impact in its first year. We believe there is a very strong case that this review should be short and sharp and be undertaken as soon as possible and that there is a very strong case that the code should be mandatory.

We have only seen one of the car brands fully meeting the requirements of the code. That is one out of 68 car brands supplying to the Australian market. This means that car owners are being dudded, because they do not have real choice of car repairer. They are forced to go to the specialist dealerships because small businesses and independent car repairers are being locked out and cannot get the info they need about repairing specific systems brand by brand. That means that independent car repairers do not have the ability to see whether cars are being tuned properly and minimising their pollution, and it allows scandals like the VW emissions fraud to happen again and again, because there is no independent tailpipe testing of emissions, which could happen when cars are being serviced.

The United States has got mandatory sharing of information, so there is no reason why we should not have that here. And it is urgent that this occur, because independent family-owned businesses are going to the wall while it does not occur. This is such an important thing—to support small businesses and to give people choice of who should repair their cars. Every month we delay is a month of businesses struggling to survive and of more polluting cars.

In summary, the Greens do not oppose the intent of the recommendations in the committee's report but we believe they are not sufficiently forward thinking. We recommend adopting the recommendations but modifying them to incorporate stronger recommendations to drive change sooner. Our additional recommendations put forward a concrete way forward. We recommend that the ATS and its governing legislation be amended to continue support to currently eligible ATS recipients and to redirect the estimated $800 million ATS underspend towards a green and electric car scheme. We want to broaden the eligibility for new entrants to the scheme and promote the car technologies of the future.

Amongst other key issues, we want to focus assistance on auto parts makers that are seeking to be part of the local or global supply chain for electric vehicles or vehicles not powered by fossil fuels. We have also put forward a recommendation to support incentives and infrastructure support to encourage the purchase and rollout of electric vehicles in Australia. We want to see this on COAG's agenda, because we should be developing a policy framework for electric and alternative fuel vehicles and committing to a near-term target for the take-up of electric vehicles in Australia.

There is such potential in the auto industry in Australia, and it is just going to require some vision, some political will from government, to take up that potential and really transform our car industry into a growth industry and an industry that will be supporting a clean environment and supporting jobs in advanced manufacturing.

4:30 pm

Photo of Nick XenophonNick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | | Hansard source

The report of the Senate Economics References Committee on Australia's automotive industry is an important report and it has a clear message: we cannot give up on automotive manufacturing in this nation. The recommendations in the report are clear and unambiguous. They set out a template to save many of the jobs that potentially will be lost as a result of Ford, Holden and Toyota leaving at the end of 2017. In fact, Ford is due to leave in less than 12 months as a car maker in this country. Let me put this in perspective. It will involve up to 200,000 jobs being lost, according the Bracks review on the auto sector and according to work carried out by the University of Adelaide. It will involve a massive $29 billion hit to our GDP. It will mean that, as far as manufacturing as a percentage of GDP, Australia will slip behind countries like Botswana and Rwanda. Currently manufacturing has slipped to something like 6.8 per cent of GDP—compared with Rwanda at five per cent and Botswana at six per cent. We will go below those countries. Compare this with Germany, which has an active program of encouraging advanced manufacturing and of encouraging its auto sector. Twenty-two per cent of Germany's GDP is based on manufacturing.

We must do everything we can to arrest the tsunami of job losses we are facing as a result of the departure of these three car makers from our shores. I think we need to take the attitude that we must not give up on auto manufacturing in this country. Senator Bernardi is shaking his head. I am not sure whether he is agreeing or disagreeing.

Photo of Cory BernardiCory Bernardi (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | | Hansard source

I'm agreeing with you. It is a big hole to be filled.

Photo of Nick XenophonNick Xenophon (SA, Independent) Share this | | Hansard source

It is a big hole to be filled, but I believe that it is a massive challenge and we are up to it. With political will and working together with industry, we can do this because the consequence of not doing this will be massive to our economy around the country, as Senator Carr indicated.

Let us say that 100,000 jobs will be lost in net terms. I think it will be worse than that because we are looking at 200,000 jobs. The welfare bill alone would be in the order of $2 billion a year, and yet we have an automotive diversification program in the tens of millions—about $60 million—which is hopelessly oversubscribed. It is not enough. The government is holding back on the Automotive Transformation Scheme, and that is something that must be addressed as a matter of urgency.

The reason we need to deal with this urgently is that we are running out of time. The next six months will be critical for the future of this industry and the future of jobs in this sector. Ethan Automotive has already spent, as I understand it, several million dollars drawing up plans, seeking designers from around the world and getting the supply chain in order for their proposal to build a locally-made, Australian owned car. Punch Group is looking at building a car here in Australia by taking over the General Motors plant. That will, of course, involve negotiations with Holden locally and with the Detroit head office but it will also see the government being involved in a positive and proactive way. If that plant can be taken over by Punch Group or any other entity that has the capacity to do so, it will save those jobs. It will save supply chain jobs.

We also need to be very active in terms of working with the aftermarket sector that Senator Muir has been a champion of. Stuart Charity and his team, and the Motor Trades Association with Richard Dudley as CEO are doing a great job. We need to look at that as well. We need to have a relationship between the automotive sector, advanced manufacturing and our defence sectors so that there can be a transition there. But I do not believe we should give up on the automotive sector in this country in terms of the capacity, the ability and the potential to build cars in this country. After all, if we look at just 10 per cent of the 1.1 million cars that are sold in this country every year, that will be enough to keep the supply chain going.

I want to commend the work that Senator Carr has done on this. Indeed, I commend the work of all committee members but in particular Senator Carr. I also commend Senator Muir for his interest and Senator Madigan for his longstanding and passionate interest in automotive manufacturing and manufacturing generally.

I want to finish with a quote from Thomas Edison. He hit the nail on the head when he said, 'Our greatest weakness lies in giving up. The most certain way to succeed is always to try just one more time.' I believe we need to try just one more time to revive automotive manufacturing in this country because there are serious players with a real interest in reviving it. If that does not succeed, then we ought to look at the supply chain, at diversification and at a whole range of measures to stem the tsunami of job losses we are facing as a nation if we do not get this right.

4:35 pm

Photo of Sean EdwardsSean Edwards (SA, Liberal Party) Share this | | Hansard source

I would like to speak on the report of Senate Economics References Committee on Australia's automotive industry. I acknowledge the work of the economics committee and say that this government has a profound level of support for the Automotive Transformation Scheme—ever since Mitsubishi left Adelaide in 2007, and then Ford and Holden subsequently decided at the 2013 election that they would leave. The fact is that over 1.1 million vehicles are sold in this country and, sadly, only 130,000 of those are manufactured in this country, and it is declining.

This government did not shut down the automotive industry, as those opposite would try to frame it—in the same way that we could say that they closed Mitsubishi in 2007 on their watch. It is simply not the case. It is world economics. It is the way things happen. The industry has been supported and will draw down another $175 million from the automotive transformation package that the government has on offer—and we will not resile from that. I have been working with industries in South Australia, and one company, Cutler Brands, has been awarded over $1 million to transition to other industries. This government shall not and will not resile from trying to protect the jobs in this space.

4:37 pm

Photo of Ricky MuirRicky Muir (Victoria, Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party) Share this | | Hansard source

I am pleased to be standing here to speak on the tabling of this report. As many of my colleagues before me have said, it is an important report. My colleagues have covered a lot of what could be said about this report and have done a very good job in summing up this report.

The Australian Motoring Enthusiasts Party was formed to represent the views of the motoring enthusiast culture. This is a vast culture with many different aspects and is deeply entrenched in Australian history. It does not matter what your sex, race, religion or social background is, there is always somebody in just about any crowd who can relate to being an enthusiast in some way or another. Further, there are whole industries that are supported by the automotive sector and by motoring enthusiasts.

There is a perception at the moment that the whole sector could well be in trouble. As vehicle manufacturing scales down in Australia, we need to prepare ourselves to find ways to soak up the job losses—which, as Senator Xenophon said, are predicted to be up to 200,000—within the automotive sector and the flow-on industries that could well become redundant. What better option than to create more jobs in the auto sector or similar industries to utilise the skills set that many people currently working in the industry have? They are already thoroughly trained and have great experience and relevant qualifications. So it makes sense to try to utilise the skills which are already current in the automotive sector in jobs of a similar nature.

There is a lot of talk about the auto industry being dead, but that is far from the truth. Automotive manufacturing makes up 20 per cent of jobs in the auto sector. The other 80 per cent is still here and there is a lot of room for improvement. One of the recommendations that the Australian Motoring Enthusiasts Party suggested in our additional notes to the report is that a PR campaign be undertaken for automotive vocations to encourage careers in the automotive sector. It is not a very attractive prospective career path if your political leaders are running around preaching that the industry is dead. It is not dead; the other 80 per cent is still here and it can still grow.

I am delighted that the interim report, tabled some time back, had a strong focus on the Automotive Transformation Scheme—which has been spoken about by colleagues before me. I do believe there is a need to change the eligibility criteria, so that the scope of the scheme will not die a natural death in 2017 when automotive manufacturing ceases. Having a legislated scheme with dedicated funds available only to eligible manufacturers of components for locally built new vehicles makes no sense once manufacturing ceases. It also makes no sense to take the legislated funds from that scheme instead of using them to assist the other 80 per cent of the industry grow and diversify. Witnesses who appeared before the inquiry spoke about diversifying into new areas—for example, renewable technology. People are looking into different areas to utilise the skills they have.

The Australian Motoring Enthusiasts Party generally agrees with the report of the inquiry and is very happy with many aspects of it. I really do congratulate the committee staff and everybody involved with this very important report. The Australian Motoring Enthusiasts Party has, however, provided additional notes in areas where we think there could be a bit of improvement.

I agree with Senator Xenophon when he said that the Automotive Diversification Fund is heavily oversubscribed. It is not only oversubscribed but also underfunded. That is definitely an issue, and that is why I think changing the eligibility criteria for the Automotive Transformation Scheme is so important. There is about a half-a-billion underspend there which could be utilised to help industries—for example, the after-market industries or tier 2 or 3 parts manufacturers—diversify into different areas. Having said that, recommendation 7 of the report is that the 'government support the establishment of an automotive industry task force, with representatives from industry, unions and governments'. I completely agree with this. This is a brilliant idea. What better way to help the industry move forward than have the industry involved? So I strongly support that recommendation. In question time today I asked a question in relation to service data and independent repairers and having the right to choose repairers, and there was a bit of talk afterwards about competition. In my additional notes I have noted that the review of the agreement needs to be immediate—it needs to happen now.

I thank everyone who put in a submission to the committee. I will just pinpoint a couple: the Confederation of Australian Motor Sport, Tomcar Australia and Applidyne Australia. Tomcar Australia is actually manufacturing vehicles here in Australia, and Applidyne is trying to manufacture vehicles here in Australia. That is proof that there is scope for manufacturing to continue here in Australia. I thank the Federation of Automotive Products Manufacturers, the Motor Trades Association of Australia, the Motoring Advisory Council and Auto Services Group.

Auto Services Group actually focuses on imports—and that seems to be a dirty word in this place. But we are about to lose manufacturing, and I just mentioned competition in relation to service data, and I think this is something that could well apply a bit of pressure on the manufacturers as there will not be many Australian manufacturers after 2017. There have been a lot of scare campaigns in relation to proper policy around the importation of vehicles, whether it be under the Specialist and Enthusiast Vehicle Scheme or just parallel imports altogether. I will not go into great detail about it. Again, it is in my additional notes. I really do encourage the government to consider this and I would love to continue conversations. I could speak a lot about the rest of the submissions but I will not go into it.

I would like to go a little bit further to thank the Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party for their support in the background and thank them for encouraging people to put submissions into the inquiry because it is very important that that happens. I have already thanked the committee staff but I will do that again because I am really bad a getting back to emails on time. They did a really good job dealing with me. I commend all the work done from everybody else in the background. This is an important report. I hope the government takes it seriously and I look forward to seeing some results.

4:45 pm

Photo of Robert SimmsRobert Simms (SA, Australian Greens) Share this | | Hansard source

I also briefly want to comment on this report and, as a South Australian, put on the record my support for ensuring that we do what we can to support our automotive industry during this period of transition. In my home state of South Australia, we face an economy that is experiencing transition at the moment, transitioning away from coal and carbon within the economy more broadly, but we are also seeing the decline of the manufacturing industry. In that context, it is really critical that we do all that we can to harness the skills of our manufacturing industry and to create new green jobs for the future.

In South Australia, we have Holden due to close from 2017. That is going to have an enormous impact on jobs in South Australia, so we need to ensure that we have a plan in place to move people from employment within existing manufacturing industries into new jobs of the future. Members would be aware Senator Rice and myself have introduced a bill looking at green cars and how we can provide support for that transition in South Australia and in Victoria. I certainly look forward to working with my colleagues here in the Senate to progress that agenda.

I seek leave to continue my remarks later.

Leave granted; debate adjourned.