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Legislative Council - Fifty-Third Parliament, Second Session (53-2)
2015-03-18 Daily Xml
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Manufacturing Sector

The Hon. J.M. GAZZOLA (15:12): My question is to the Minister for Automotive Transformation. Minister, given the announcements, can you provide the council with an update on support for automotive manufacturing in South Australia?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER (Minister for Manufacturing and Innovation, Minister for Automotive Transformation, Minister for Aboriginal Affairs and Reconciliation) (15:13): I thank the honourable member for his question. It is particularly pertinent given the previous question about manufacturing jobs in South Australia. I am saddened that there was a lot of confusion last week about the commonwealth government's support for the automotive manufacturing sector in South Australia. However, I am very proud to say that, no matter what the commonwealth Liberal government announces, this Labor state government stands firmly behind our automotive manufacturers and their workers.

Last week started with a very positive announcement from the federal Industry minister, Ian Macfarlane, that seven South Australian firms will share $4.1 million under the Automotive Diversification program. South Australia secured more than 60 per cent of this federal funding in the first round of this scheme. I congratulate those companies which have been successful in attracting funding, and I acknowledge the hard work of Greg Combet and the Automotive Transformation Taskforce for assisting South Australian firms in their diversification efforts—a taskforce that is standing up for Australian manufacturers.

Members interjecting:

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: I also—and credit where credit is due—acknowledge the support of minister Macfarlane. This scheme is a great example of the state and federal governments working together. Unfortunately, Mr President, minister Macfarlane's support for this South Australian industry is not shared by the rest of his government, particularly the Prime Minister or the Treasurer.

This led to the complete and utter farce last week, where South Australian automotive workers were greeted with the seemingly good news that the full $900 million that Prime Minister Abbott and Treasurer Hockey had torn from the automotive transformation scheme was going to be reinstated. Newspaper headlines said '$900 million to be reinstated'. Later that day—that very day that the newspaper headlines came out—it was made clear that it was actually more like $500 million, not the full $900 million under that federal scheme.

It gets even worse: at the same time as minister Macfarlane was in Adelaide last week, his ministerial colleagues in Canberra were panicking and demanding the Prime Minister stick to his guns on scrapping support for South Australia. This led to various government spokesmen and anonymous ministers telling the media that nothing like $500 million would be spent and the figure would be $80 to $120 million, and it varied depending on which Liberal was leaking to which media outlet at the time.

Amidst all this noise, this claim and counterclaim within the ranks of the federal Coalition, there was one quarter that was deathly silent: the South Australian Liberal Party. We heard nothing from the South Australian Liberals, state or federal, supporting minister Macfarlane and standing up to their Prime Minister per se. Once again, it was left to the Labor Party to pour scorn on the Prime Minister's attacks on South Australian workers and manufacturers. We know Joe Hockey and Warren Truss goaded Holden into leaving Australia. Late last year, the Treasurer was still gloating—

Members interjecting:

The PRESIDENT: Order!

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: —that removing industry assistance paved the way for free-trade agreements.

The PRESIDENT: The Hon. Mr Maher has the call. Proceed.

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: Thank you, Mr President. But I want to inform the council of another particularly concerning element of the Liberal Party's approach to the South Australian automotive manufacturing industry that isn't as well known. In December 2012, Holden and BAE Systems won an open tender process to provide the protected vehicle fleet to the commonwealth government. This was an open tender process; you can see all the details on the AusTender website.

The Hon. I.K. Hunter: It wasn't an evaluation, was it?

The Hon. K.J. MAHER: It wasn't whatever Senator Edwards thinks is the deal he got. This was an open tender process. The contract between the commonwealth government and BAE and Holden was signed by the head of the commonwealth Attorney-General's Department in December 2012, yet, for those who are paying attention, last week some might have seen the Prime Minister touring South Australia in a shiny new BMW, not a Holden, as the tender was won.

The reason for this has become clear over the last few months. Late last year, a Senate estimates hearing was told that the contract with BAE and Holden was torn up and a contract for the protected vehicle fleet was awarded instead to BMW. BMW didn't even bid for the contract in the open tender process. Holden, meanwhile, was part of two bids, including the successful winning bid. A few weeks ago, Senator Brandis confirmed to the Senate in a question on notice that his junior minister, justice minister Michael Keenan, tore up the contract with BAE, which it won in an open tender process with support from Holden.

To recap on this matter, the commonwealth government wanted to renew its protected vehicle fleet. It went through a proper open tender process. BAE and Holden together won the contract. It was signed off by a senior public servant. Then, after the election of the Liberal federal government, a Liberal minister tore up the contract and gave it to BMW without any tender process at all.

What is it with the Liberal Party and tender processes? It is hard to understand why the Abbott government seems so opposed to allowing South Australian workers to tender for work. No tender for the subs, and even when Holden fair and square wins an open tender, it just gets torn up. The Prime Minister is happy to drive around in his brand-new BMW, but he seems completely uninterested in having a fair deal for our submarine industry.

Great challenges remain as we move closer to 2017 and the day that the last South Australian-made Holden comes off the production line in Elizabeth. But, as South Australian Labor, we will be standing with our manufacturers and their work force to ensure we minimise the magnitude of the shock that is coming. It is a pity that similar support is not emanating from Canberra or indeed from the South Australian Liberals.

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