Today in Senate Estimates Senator Joyce asked of Minister Kim Carr, whose portfolio includes the support of the Australian car manufacturing industry, whether the new additions to our Australian Parliament’s car fleet were actually Australian. He answered in the negative.

“After the last few months of rhetoric from the Minister regarding support for the Australian Car Industry it was surprising to see that Parliament is test driving a fully imported Toyota Prius as a replacement for Australian manufactured Holden’s and Fords.

“The government may want to portray their environmental credentials but if we could do so without making a government endorsed decision to support another country’s car industry over our own I believe would be helpful.

“Like with all decisions to deal with the environment we have to make sure we have an economy at the end of it. Whether it is threats to the coal industry or unnecessary caveats on agriculture for methane emissions, let us not lose sight that as poverty walks in the door the environmental conscience will fly out the window.


Ends