Mr O'CONNOR(3.57 p.m.) —I welcome the opportunity to support this motion relating to the car industry proposed by the honourable member for Calwell (Dr Theophanous). I acknowledge his longstanding interest in industry policy matters—this industry in particular. I also welcome the statement last week by the federal Leader of the Opposition, Kim Beazley, announcing Labor's six-point plan for the car and component industry beyond the year 2000. The central feature of Labor's plan is to freeze tariffs at 15 per cent on motor vehicles original equipment and replacement components from the years 2000 to 2005. The plan establishes a desire to achieve a transparent method of assessing the progress made by our trading partners in lowering their tariff and non-tariff barriers to the products of this all-important industry and we are providing in this plan for a review at the year 2003 to assess how our trading partners are progressing along that route.

An important element of that plan is the retention of the export facilitation scheme, which has been responsible for the enormous growth in component manufacturing exports from this industry. We are also proposing to continue the duty free allowance to support the domestic market value added and also to provide a supportive research and development framework for this industry to ensure that it stays competitive over the longer term.

The plan is not a gift to the industry. Labor's plan calls for the industry to come to the party with further investments and jobs to the year 2005. We estimate that, with this particular plan in place, we can more than double the number of vehicle exports to 100,000 units per year by the year 2005, treble the exports of motor vehicle components to $3 billion and, of course, create some 10,000 new jobs in this vital area of manufacturing in Australia.

The part of the motion that I wish to address today relates to the regional employment implications of the Productivity Commission's recommendations with regard to this industry. The car and component manufacturing industry is of critical importance to Geelong and its hinterland as some 3,700 people are directly employed in motor vehicle manufacturing and component manufacturing in the Geelong area. When you take into account the Golden region, of which Geelong is a part, with the other great provincial city of Ballarat and its immediate environs, both those cities have over 5,000 people currently employed directly in automobile manufacturing and component manufacturing in Australia and in those regions.

I was very interested in the comments of the member for Kingston (Ms Jeanes) on this particular motion. It merely highlights the deep divisions which are appearing in coalition ranks on the very issue of where we are going to take the car industry beyond the year 2000. I contrast the attitudes and sentiments that were expressed by the honourable member for Kingston, who has substantial employment in car and component manufacturing in her electorate, with the position taken on the floor of this House by the honourable member for Corangamite (Mr McArthur), who has consistently advocated, well before 1993, a zero tariff proposal for this industry, which would have already seen the demise not only of Ford in Geelong but also of manufacturing employment in this industry.

I am also interested in the attitude of the honourable member for Ballarat, the Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Transport and Regional Development (Mr Ronaldson), to this question. I happened to be in Ballarat last Friday, where I announced elements of Labor's plan. It was warmly received at the Bendix Mintex plant, which employs 730 people.

The honourable member for Ballarat got a bit testy when he was challenged by Martin Ferguson on the floor of the House last week about where he stands on this particular industry. I invite the parliamentary secretary to come clean with the electors of Ballarat and the electors that comprise Geelong and Ballarat in the Golden region and let us know exactly where he stands. (Time expired)