Senator CHAPMAN (2.19 p.m.) —I direct my question to the Minister representing the Minister for Industry, Tourism and Resources. Will the minister advise the Senate how the historic free trade agreement with the United States will benefit Australia's automotive industry? Furthermore, is the minister aware of any alternative policies?

Senator MINCHIN —I thank Senator Chapman for that very good question and acknowledge his long-term interest in this great industry. The announcement of this historic—as Senator Chapman said—free trade agreement does mark another great watershed for Australia's burgeoning automotive industry and the thousands of people who work in that industry. It is thanks to our government that Australian car producers and component manufacturers will have much greater access to the world's largest market for automobiles and automobile parts. This agreement will result in the immediate removal of US automotive tariffs from the day the agreement comes into force. Of course, the elimination of all these tariffs does provide Australian manufacturers with an obvious and immediate edge over everybody else trying to compete in the US market—the biggest market in the world.

As part of that move, there will be an immediate removal of the 25 per cent tariff on light commercial vehicles that currently applies in the US, which is keeping out the great Australian ute, one of our great automotive products. Those light commercial products make up 60 per cent of the total US market, so it is one that we really want to be part of. Americans have already demonstrated their love of Australian cars. The Holden Monaro, made in Adelaide, has been an enormous success, rebadged as a Pontiac, in the US market. With this last major trade barrier now removed, there is an enormous opportunity for Australian makers, particularly Ford and Holden, to allow American consumers access to one of the best Australian products: our ute. I am very pleased to say, as a South Australian senator, that Holden will have that advantage, with their utes made in Adelaide. I note that another Adelaide based company, Ion Ltd, already makes 70 per cent of the wheels for Harley Davidson motorcycles made in the United States. This agreement will result in that company getting an immediate $1 million windfall as a result of the removal of the tariffs on their wheels made in Adelaide. I note that the US is already the second largest export destination for Australian automotive producers, taking some $900 million of our exports in 2002-03, propping up a lot of Australian jobs and that is going to grow and grow as a result of this trade agreement.

You would expect that, given all the flow-on benefits to Australian workers in manufacturing, the opposition—the professed representatives of the workers of this country—would welcome this agreement, as Premier Beattie and the South Australian Labor leader, Mike Rann, have done. But this new opposition leader is just like his old predecessors: whenever we put up a policy, make a breakthrough, he just says, `No.' That is just the stock standard Labor answer in opposition. This new opposition leader is the same man who, in the Australian Financial Review in July 2000, wrote:

Given a choice between two Scotsmen, the ALP must follow Adam Smith, not Doug Cameron.

Obviously Adam Smith has absolutely no influence anymore in the Labor Party, and the `new opposition leader'—as he likes to call himself—is taking much more notice of that other Scotsman Doug Cameron and his protectionist agenda, and we do have the union tail wagging the Labor dog on this issue.

We saw Mr Latham oppose tariff cuts in the automobile industry. He has bowed to the Left and opposed tariff cuts in the TCF industry. He wants higher costs on Australians for cars and TCF. He wants to keep the tariff, which is a tax, on Australian workers and he wants to deny them jobs that will occur with the advent of this free trade agreement. He will cost jobs for Australian workers by his opposition to this agreement; he is opposing it. Opposing our tariff cuts will cost jobs for Australians.