Senator ABETZ (5:19 PM) —The Berlin Wall may well have fallen but the wall for logic clearly is still well and truly in place because it does not penetrate the mind of Senator Cameron. Logic is not something that is his strong suit. Indeed, he has come in here, given a 15-minute spray that should have been delivered during the second reading debate, marches in and marches out. He has already gone from the chamber and he expects us to take him seriously. In the hope that he might, in fact, read the Hansard can I tell him that one thing I have learned from time to time is that the amount of volume in a speech does not necessarily equate with the amount of evidence in a speech. Usually, the greater the volume required by the speaker, the less evidence he or she has to offer in relation to the matter under debate.

First of all, the good senator had the audacity to criticise me because he had not heard me speak in this place about the manufacturing sector in the past 10 years. Can I remind the honourable senator that he got in here on 1 July of this year. He has not been here for 10 years. He has not been here for five years. He has not even been here for one year. That is possibly why he has not heard me give all that many speeches because he has only been in this place a very, very short period of time.

Of course, the fact that he has been here for such a very short period of time reminds me that he got in here over the politically dead body of Senator George Campbell, a former trade union official of the same union movement but who got dumped—for what reason? He had not supported the manufacturing sector sufficiently. So Senator Doug Cameron, having knifed off Senator George Campbell in a preselection battle, now comes in here and one of the first serious votes his casts is to do the workers in the industry he used to represent in the eye, in the hip pocket: to destroy their jobs. I suppose he thinks he had a bit of practice with former Senator George Campbell. He got him out of the job. He now wants to see if he can get some car workers out of a job. Might I say, unfortunately, I think he will succeed.

This great protector of workers’ rights, Senator Doug Cameron, would, I am sure, have been a Luddite all those years ago. He is critical that people out in outback Australia, where the temperatures get up to 40 and 50 degrees centigrade, have this outrageous luxury called air conditioning. I wonder how many of his workers he fought for to have air conditioning as standard in their vehicles as they drove around in outback Australia between mine sites et cetera? Air conditioning is now a standard requirement, and he still considers it a luxury. How far behind the times is this Senator Doug Cameron? And he is the modern face of the Australian Labor Party? He will tell everyone with a Hyundai Getz that has air conditioning, which is fitted standard, that they have a luxury motor vehicle. This is the test that is now being applied by the Australian Labor Party. The class warfare shown by Senator Cameron is something I had thought we had left behind with the collapse of the Berlin Wall and with the collapse of the politics of envy. But, no, Senator Cameron is desperately trying to breathe new life into it.

Seeing as the minister has not answered my previous question, I would like him to tell us how many Lamborghinis were sold in Australia last year. How many Porches were sold? How many Rolls Royces were sold? How many Landcruisers were sold, how many Mitsubishi Pajeros were sold and how many Holden HSVs were sold? All of those will be subject to this luxury car tax. With Rollers, you might be lucky to have sold a dozen.

Senator Conroy —I’ll ask Malcolm.

Senator ABETZ —The silly minister interjects and says he will ask Malcolm. I think that your own Prime Minister and Mr Garrett enjoy even greater wealth. But I congratulate them on that; I am not envious about Mr Rudd’s wealth or Mr Garrett’s wealth, unlike those opposite, who seem to be envious of Mr Turnbull’s wealth. I do not know why the Labor Party have this inbuilt jealousy; this chip on their shoulder. They cannot bear to think that somebody might have some wealth. But when they sit on the Labor side they conveniently forget that Messrs Garrett and Rudd have so much money.

In his rant, Senator Cameron referred to Audis as well. Hello! Under the amendment that was sponsored by the government and which we are discussing, guess which brand of motor vehicle is going to get the greatest exemptions: the Audis. The car that he ranted and raved about is exactly the one that is going to get the greatest benefit out of this government sponsored amendment. The poor gentleman does not even understand his own government’s legislation and the deal that has been done with the Greens, and yet he comes in here, trips himself up and, quite frankly, displays for all to see and hear his gross ignorance.

We are also told that somehow higher taxes on motor vehicles support the motor vehicle industry. Not even the AMWU, his former union, is making that assertion. Nobody is making that assertion. It is going to hurt the car industry—no ifs, no buts. There were four Australian car manufacturers when the Howard government left office; there are now only three. That is the great stewardship of Mr Carr. In fairness, it would have happened irrespective of who was in government, and that is why the pathetic blame game that Senator Cameron sought to engage is so inappropriate and irrelevant.

It was asserted that we had done nothing for the Australian car industry. If Senator Cameron had bothered to read the Bracks review, which was commissioned by his own government, he would have found that the ACIS was seen by car manufacturers as the most beneficial scheme that had come their way in a very long time. I am very proud that it was our government that implemented that scheme. It helped preserve and save many Australian jobs. It allowed the car industry to adjust to world pressures. But in ranting and raving about these international car companies—these multinationals—and how they can easily afford to pay tax, Senator Cameron overlooked the $35 million gift and photo opportunity for the most profitable car company in the world, Toyota. Once again, commentary on that was completely absent from Senator Cameron’s contribution.

I would be delighted if the minister could answer for us the questions that I asked previously. Also, how many Rolls Royces, Maseratis, Lamborghinis are sold in Australia in comparison to cars such as the Holden Statesman, the Toyota Orion, the Fords and others that are in the luxury car bracket as well? Has the government modelled the impact of this measure on the Australian car industry? Has the Australian government consulted with the car industry, let alone with the unions, about this measure? What will their amendment cost each year? How many models will be exempted, what will they be and how many of each of those models are sold each year? Once we start getting some answers, we might be able to progress the debate.