AUTOMOTIVE INDUSTRY

Dr CLOSE (Port Adelaide) (14:45): My question is to the Minister for Manufacturing, Innovation and Trade. Can the minister inform the house about the state government's commitment to supporting the automotive industry in South Australia?

The Hon. T.R. KENYON (Newland—Minister for Manufacturing, Innovation and Trade, Minister for Small Business) (14:45): The state government, of course, is doing everything it can to keep Holden here in South Australia and in Australia, and automotive manufacturing in general. We know it is an important industry. We know how important it is to the South Australian economy. It is a key employer in the northern suburbs but, after a mapping exercise, we know that the effect stretches right out across the city, the state and in fact interstate, including contracts in New South Wales and even Queensland with auto component manufacturers. We know that since the recent federal election the biggest threat to Holden is in fact Tony Abbott's pledge to withdraw $500 million. Not only is that dangerous for the continued existence of Holden—

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The Minister for Manufacturing will be seated. The member for Hammond is warned for the first time, the member for Heysen for the second time and the member for Unley for the first time. The Minister for Manufacturing.

The Hon. T.R. KENYON: Not only is that a threat to the continued existence of Holden, it is one of the biggest sovereign risk issues we have ever seen in this country. To have a scheme in place and operating over a number of years—since 2010, and designed to go from 2010 to 2015—cut two-thirds of the way through its program is a significant sovereign risk issue brought about by Tony Abbott and the Liberal Party. Along with other ways they have cut things, this shows that you cannot trust this federal government. You can make an agreement or not and it just doesn't matter, they will walk away from it if it suits them to do that.

We know that every country in the world that has an automotive industry is provided with some form of government support, and we advocate continued assistance to the automotive industry in this state. We advocate continued assistance to the automotive industry in this state because we know it is a competition among governments to keep an automotive industry in this state.

Mr Whetstone interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Chaffey is called to order.

The Hon. T.R. KENYON: We know how important the vehicle industry is to Australia. We know how important the automotive industry is to research and development in this country, to investment, to employment—

Mr Pisoni interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for Unley is warned for the second and final time.

The Hon. T.R. KENYON: —not just to individual automotive manufacturers and suppliers but also all the jobs that are directly and indirectly related to it. We know it is about supporting Australian jobs—indirect jobs and direct jobs. We know that up to 13,000 jobs are at stake just in South Australia. Across the country, that number is 60,000 jobs. All we need from the federal government is a decision. We need a decision from the federal government to invest in Australian manufacturing, to invest in auto manufacturing in this country, and we are not seeing it. Instead, a decision is farmed off to the Productivity Commission with a six to nine-month delay.

Mr Venning: Years of bungling.

The SPEAKER: The member for Schubert is called to order.

The Hon. T.R. KENYON: He's getting down to his last few days to interject, sir, no matter how disorderly that is.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. T.R. KENYON: Are you going to be a goat again today?

Members interjecting:

The SPEAKER: The member for West Torrens may be leaving very soon.

The Hon. T.R. KENYON: As the Premier has said, how can a component manufacturer tool up to get ready for the production of one of the new platform cars if no decision has been made, if they don't even know if they are going to have a customer? How can the deli that depends on car industry workers for their business make a decision—

The Hon. I.F. EVANS: Point of order: number 98, sir. This is debate.

The SPEAKER: No, I don't agree. The Minister for Manufacturing.

The Hon. T.R. KENYON: How can a deli that depends on car industry workers for business make investment decisions on new equipment if they don't have a decision from the federal government? That is why we need a definite commitment from the federal government to make an investment in the automotive manufacturing industry. That's why the South Australian government is advocating so strongly for this. What we need is a state opposition that is prepared to offer—

The SPEAKER: No, I'm not interested in hearing about what kind of state opposition we need. Supplementary.