Ms HENDERSON (Corangamite) (16:26): I know as well as anyone in this House how devastating the recent developments in the auto industry and across manufacturing have been. Thousands of workers across my region are employed in the manufacturing industry and many will be affected by the shutdown of the automotive manufacturing industry right across Australia. A number of companies in the Geelong region supply components to car manufacturers, including Toyota, and this is terrible news for the industry. But let me assure the member for Gellibrand, and let me assure those members opposite that—despite the spin, despite the deception, despite the untruths—we are fighting for jobs. We are fighting for a future. We are in very difficult times. This is a very tough time for Australian manufacturing. But, unlike members opposite, we are confident that we have a bright future in manufacturing. I come from a proud manufacturing city, and I am going to hang onto that and do whatever I can to work with my community leaders and my community to ensure that we have a bright future. Opposition members interjecting— Ms HENDERSON: Let me tell you what we are doing. You say we have no plan. That is absolute rubbish. We are focusing on new opportunities, new industries, new markets and new jobs. Consider what we are doing. We are trying to get rid of the carbon tax, which members opposite are blocking. This is a tax on jobs, a tax on Geelong and a tax on the people of my electorate. This is a tax on manufacturing. This is driving up the cost of energy and it is hurting manufacturing. Two million businesses are being hurt by the carbon tax, and what do those opposite do? Not one cent of compensation—absolutely nothing We are working hard to get rid of the mining tax, which is being blocked by members opposite. We are working hard to build a strong economy and to boost investment and confidence. But the more you drag our nation down as a centre of manufacturing, the more damage you do. Consider the basket case of the economy we inherited. Unless we get the budget back under control, we are heading towards $123 billion of accumulated deficits—$667 billion of government debt. We are slashing government debt. Mr Dreyfus: You're the government now! Ms HENDERSON: Yes, we are the government—and, boy, have we got a job to do! We have got a very big job to do because of what you have done to wreck our economy. In my electorate we are fighting for important new industries. There is the Geelong Centre for Emerging Infectious Diseases. We are investing money in a new intensive agriculture precinct. Mr Watts interjecting— Ms HENDERSON: I know it does not resonate in Gellibrand but agriculture is incredibly important right across this nation. There is the $18 billion Defence project, the Land 400. I am very proud of my community, led by the Mayor of Geelong, and what we are doing to fight for that project which would do so much for our city and our state. I understand that members opposite have not been following the news and have not read the papers, obviously, but—led by the industry minister, Ian Macfarlane, we are conducting an economic review of the South Australian and Victorian economies. I am on that panel—the Industry and Manufacturing Economic Review Panel—and I can assure you that we are absolutely focused on what we need to do as a government to grow jobs, to grow confidence and to help transition this economy. We are focused on innovation, on advanced manufacturing, on food processing, on IT and on communications. We have a plan. Mr Watts: Not on the NBN, though. Ms HENDERSON: Yes, we are focused on the NBN. We are focused on responsible government. We are focused on responsible economic management. We are very proud of the work that we are doing. We are getting on with the business. What members opposite do not understand is that governments do not create jobs; people do. People create jobs. We need to put the policy framework in the right place to ensure that we build the confidence, we build the investment and we grow the jobs. I remind those in this House that, in my own electorate, the loss of Ford under Labor's watch has been a terrible blow. Rather than throwing money and promising money, as Labor did, which led to more job losses, we are focusing on what we need to do. In this process, the economic review panel and our $100 million growth fund are vital for jobs and for our future. (Time expired)