Sharon Bird (Cunningham, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I commend to the House today the report of the Standing Committee on Economics, Finance and Public Administration entitled Australian manufacturing: today and tomorrow. I joined the committee only in March this year when this inquiry was well underway. Shortly thereafter I became the deputy chair of the committee, which was a fairly significant task to take on. I place on the record my great appreciation to the chair, the member for Cook, for the great assistance he gave to me in undertaking that role. In the tradition now established in this afternoon’s tabling of reports, I also wish to put on the record, as the member is retiring at the next election, my great appreciation for what I think has been an exemplary public service career in both state and federal parliaments. I think he is a damned nice fella and he will be greatly missed. Having shared a border with him across electorates, I will miss him personally—as will our local region. I think the House should record our great appreciation not only for his committee work but also for his work more broadly.

In acknowledging my late coming and the great speed required in catching up, I wish to thank the committee secretariat—particularly the secretary, Mr Stephen Boyd, and the inquiry secretary, Sharon Bryant. I have to say that we caused great mirth around the nation because two women members on the committee were me and the member for Newcastle, Sharon Grierson. There was a belief in New Zealand that all Australian women were named Sharon, but I think that just reflects the great quality that went with the names! I appreciate the work that Sharon contributed, along with the rest of the secretariat—Andrew McGowan, John Hawkins, Judith Ireland, Amelia Johnston and Natasha Petrovic.

This report is extraordinarily timely. We are all aware of the great pressures placed on Australia from the massive growth of the Chinese economy, and indeed the emerging Indian economy, and their demands for mineral resources. That is something that we benefit from greatly in Australia. As with all positive developments, there are challenges. One of the challenges is that, as the infrastructure and skills resources in our economy are drawn towards those industries, problems are created for other sectors. Indeed, we saw that in the resources sector report which the committee concluded recently and again it is in the manufacturing sector report.

What was particularly encouraging as we went around the country was the number of manufacturing industries that have flourished. They have taken up the challenge with great gusto and have forged a future for themselves in this nation. The characteristics of those highly successful manufacturing industries made a most important contribution to this inquiry. It showed us that there is a viable future for the manufacturing industry in Australia. As the chair said, it is not focused on competing on price; it is focused on being an outward-looking, globally competitive, export focused industry. We saw numerous examples of this and it was very encouraging. The report and its 21 recommendations make it clear that we do see a role for government in fostering and supporting that growth. We do not see that role as a protectionist one; we see it as a supportive one. There was some talk about the focus of our inquiry and the subsequent report being on supporting winners, rather than picking winners—on acknowledging that there are manufacturing industries which have developed problem-solving approaches and niche markets. They have acknowledged their strengths and have built on them and there is much that governments can do to support and encourage that into the future. The 21 recommendations go to many aspects of that, particularly the way in which we can support research and development and the skills development that is needed for those industries and the way in which government can better gather data and better share information through things like a single portal, putting all that together so that we provide all of the backup that needs to occur for those industries which are doing so well. The committee’s approach in this final report is a particularly constructive one for the future. (Time expired)

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