With Victoria’s unemployment rate at its highest level in a decade, Calwell MP Maria Vamvakinou has slammed changes to federal funding for entrepreneurs and business investors.
The federal Labor MP said much-needed innovation support for the Broadmeadows region had been significantly weakened by the Abbott government’s Entrepreneurs’ Infrastructure Program (EIP).
“With less than half the funding of the previous programs, EIP has no hope of achieving even half the success of the innovative programs it’s replacing,” she said.
Ms Vamvakinou said 26 firms in the Calwell electorate had previously been awarded more than $350,000 in grants to improve their business performance.
“But the Abbott government has changed the rules and those companies are no longer eligible to apply for assistance,” she said.
Ms Vamvakinou said the government had put thousands of jobs at risk by cutting its support for innovation, small business and start-ups and abandoning advanced technology companies and emerging industries.
“The immediate and urgent question is: what now for hundreds of locals who have lost their jobs and livelihoods,” she said.
“More importantly, where are the new jobs?”
Ms Vamvakinou criticised the state and federal governments over the demise of the Victorian car industry.
“The Labor government had a plan to support the manufacturing industry in Melbourne’s north-western suburbs,” she said.
“When Labor was in government, we provided over $20 million of assistance in the north-western suburbs, [for companies] such as Abcor, Statcar and Venture DMG in Campbellfield, Nexteer Automotive in Somerton, and Prima Plastics and Tooling in Broadmeadows.
“Now the Abbot government plans to rip out over $1 billion, which spells devastation for the region’s auto component manufacturers.”
Shadow innovation and industry minister Senator Kim Carr also criticised the Abbott government.
“What a short-sighted approach to long-term innovation and industry assistance from a government that harps on about ‘jobs of the future’ but has absolutely no idea of how to create them,” he said. “Twenty-six local [companies] are now automatically excluded from government services.”
A spokeswoman for Industry Minister Ian Macfarlane said the new $484.2 million EIP would bring research and business together to commercialise home-grown ideas and equip small to medium enterprises with skills to change and expand.
“While Australian manufacturing is transforming, particularly in traditional industry hubs like Geelong and north [of] Melbourne, these changes present opportunities as well as challenges,” she said.
