Simon Crean (Hotham, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Trade and Regional Development) Share this | Hansard source

That is a disgrace, because what they effectively did was to drop by one-third the government’s contribution to this nation’s future. The parliamentary secretary at the table, the member for Flinders, looks aghast. It is pretty dramatic. That is why we have not been able to export as effectively as before. That is why we are not as productive as before. We have all these assertions as to how Work Choices and workplace arrangements have increased our productivity. Productivity has in fact gone down under this government’s watch. Why? Because they have stripped away our commitment to innovation, research and development.

When Labor was in office, average annual growth of real business investment in R&D rose to 11.4 per cent from 1986-87 to 1995-96. In the period 1995-96 to now, it has dropped from 11½ per cent to five per cent. It has more than halved. By effectively taking away concessions and support, the government have been responsible for more than halving business expenditure on research and development in this country, and they wonder why we are not more productive. They wonder why we are not more competitive. They are a government which have been prepared to ride their luck—the luck of the resources boom. But what happens when the resources boom runs out? Nothing will happen unless we encourage the innovative opportunities of this nation, and that will not happen by government vacating the field. It will not happen unless the government are prepared to recognise and respond to the market failure associated with research and development expenditure not just in our economy but in all developed economies of the world.

In talking specifically about this matter and the government patting itself on the back about its commitment to R&D for one sector, let us look at what it has done to R&D in the total economy. It has stripped it bare, and the nation pays a price for lost opportunity. Sustained productivity growth in our key export sectors has always been underpinned and will be underpinned by a strong commitment to research and development and innovation. But it will not happen on its own. It will not happen unless governments are prepared to commit resources and forge partnerships with industry.

Labor support this legislation. We support the extension not just to an R&D body but to a marketing body. We see great opportunities and a great future for our wood and forest products industry. At the recent Labor Party National Conference, Labor restated its commitment to value adding in the industry and, specifically, its commitment to a wood and paper industry innovation council. We believe that you have to build strong, productive and ongoing working relationships between all participants in the supply chain. Because of the relationship between the Commonwealth and the state governments, as well as the industry partners, the council will facilitate whole-of-government commitments, developing initiatives aimed at improving productivity, global competitiveness, increasing market access and securing the future of the sector and also a commitment to best practices in workplaces in the sector by working cooperatively together and a commitment to sustainable development of the sector. That is Labor’s commitment. We actually laid the basis for this with the regional forest agreement, as I said at the outset of this debate. But what we also have to develop is the cooperative approach within the industry.

I hope that this new structure will provide the basis for that cooperation. We will look with great interest at how, through the Senate processes, the commitments to what this new body does will play out. But there is no point in securing the resource base of this industry unless you value-add it, and you will not effectively value-add it unless you have the commitment to innovation, research, cooperation, productiveness and competitiveness within the industry. That will come by engaging and involving all the stakeholders. That is our commitment and we will honour it. We hope we have the opportunity to implement this in the not too distant future. This new body provides a very solid basis for doing that. We believe in this and we want the opportunity to implement it.

I urge the government to adopt and embrace the direction forward that we talk about and believe in, not just pay lip-service to it and pretend that they will do it only to see another broken promise if re-elected. We support the bill but urge cooperation of the workforce, all the stakeholders and, through this new body, encourage not just the shared commitment to research and development but the marketing strategy and the value-adding direction for the great industry of this country.

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