Steven Ciobo (Moncrieff, Liberal Party, Minister for Trade, Tourism and Investment) Share this | Hansard source

I thank members for their contributions to the debate on the Export Finance and Insurance Corporation Amendment (Support for Commonwealth Entities) Bill 2016. In particular, I want to acknowledge a number of the contributions that were made. To my shadow minister, the member for Blaxland, as he outlined in his contribution to the chamber, we have got a good working relationship on this—it is a good working relationship full stop—but it has also been a productive discussion that we have been having with respect to this Efic legislation.

Those listening to this debate would have heard contributions from both sides of the chamber as to the way in which we can make sure that the legislation is crafted in the best way possible to ensure that we are giving the maximum opportunity to Australian businesses, Australian job opportunities and our exporters. That has been a guiding principle in the development of this legislation, and I will make some more remarks in more detail about that.

In terms of comments that were made, I have heard a number of contributions from members opposite, which I will go to in a moment, but I would like to reflect just for the moment on some of the contributions from government members—in particular, the member for Hughes and the member for Goldstein. Both recognised the important contribution of small and medium sized businesses in their electorates and the importance of being able to ensure that they can invest and grow their businesses.

In particular, the member for Hughes spoke about the significant role Efic will play as Australian small and medium businesses continue to expand and take advantage of the opportunities that the coalition government has been able to put in place, in particular, with respect to the three North Asian powerhouse economies of China, Korea and Japan. These are of course preferential market access opportunities that I continue to pursue now as trade minister and, in particular, the focus and emphasis that I put on them in terms of concluding, we hope, a comprehensive partnership agreement with Indonesia by the end of this year.

Discussions in that respect are going well, and I am driven by the knowledge that, if we conclude a very good deal—particularly with respect to Indonesia, given its geographic proximity to Australia and the size of the Indonesian economy—we will be in a very good position with respect to enabling Australian exporters to take advantage of what is a rapidly growing economy and what will, over the coming decade or two, become one of the most significant economies in the globe.

I also note the member for Hughes made comment about the importance of giving Australian businesses a level playing field to compete on. This is a principle that this legislation will help to put in place. The member for Goldstein made a number of comments about how businesses in his electorate are entrepreneurial and have access to finance, such as that provided by Efic and that this helps them to grow from small businesses to medium businesses and beyond.

In terms of the contributions by opposition members, I cannot help but think that perhaps a number of them—and I do not mean the this in an overly negative way—were speaking from old talking points. The reason I say that is because there were a number of concerns that opposition members raised which are addressed in the government's amendments that are on the table and that have been circulated. For example, in particular, we heard contributions made by the shadow minister and others, including the member for Shortland, about Labor's proposed second amendment. They gave the example about wanting to ensure that a business would not relocate a call centre from Australia to an offshore location. They said that by putting in place those changes it would not help to prevent that from taking place.

I will make further remarks about this in respect of the consideration in detail aspects of this bill, about the government's amendments and why we do not believe that some aspects of what Labor has put forward make sense. In fact, they would result in a poorer policy framework. The member for Macquarie made complaints about how the bill eliminates references to Australian manufacturing. Again, this is a case in point about the amendments that the government has put on the table and which have been circulated already making it clear that we will no longer eliminate references to Australian manufacturing. They will leave these in place. Instead, they will just add export of services, IT and software, as well as tourism services, to the bill. I think that many of the contributions that Labor members made were well intentioned, but that perhaps they were ignorant of the amendments that the government has already circulated and that they do not recognise the fact that their concerns have been addressed in the government amendments that we have put forward.

Let me make it clear: the government is absolutely committed to supporting Australian exporters in the 21st century, and this bill achieves our aim. This bill further strengthens Efic's focus on supporting Australian small-and medium-sized enterprises that cannot obtain private sector finance to expand their reach overseas. This focus is paying dividends. During the course of the last financial year, Efic provided over 110 SME exporters with over $155 million in funding. However, Efic could do more to help Australian SMEs.

This bill responds to the new ways in which our SMEs are growing Australian exports and expanding their reach overseas. Our legislation must change to enable Efic to lend directly to a wider range of Australian SMEs, including tourism operators, online businesses, exporters of intellectual property and other related rights and businesses engaged in overseas direct investment. The changes give these businesses the ability to benefit from an Efic loan. Previously, Efic could only provide a guarantee for a loan from another bank for these types of exporters of Australian goods and services. This change will save these businesses time and money by allowing them to borrow directly from Efic.

For example, consider the case of a small charter business running whale-watching tours out of Brisbane or the Gold Coast. The business wanted to increase its capacity to meet the needs of the growing number of international visitors. With its bank unable to help, they approached Efic. However, Efic could not assist under the existing legislation. The changes in this bill will enable Efic to loan to tourism operators like this one, which provide services directly to retail customers.

The changes also introduce a legislative stipulation to ensure there are more Australian jobs where Efic supports Australian businesses to expand overseas. I note that it is already Efic policy that applicants for its overseas direct investment financing product must not use it to fund the outsourcing of jobs. The changes will require businesses to certify in writing their reasonable belief that Efic's support for overseas direct investment will result in a net increase in the number of people employed in Australia by their business or an affiliate.

The government is committed to unlocking Efic's potential to support the operation and administration of government financing arrangements. Efic already provides fee-for-service support to the Northern Australia Infrastructure Facility, and the changes in this bill will enable Efic to provide its specialist financial services to a wider range of Commonwealth entities and companies. The changes will ensure that this is on a fee-for-service basis, subject to ministerial approval. Efic's provision of services will not impact on Efic's support for SMEs.

In summary, the changes contained in this bill will benefit a wider range of Australian SMEs, often family-owned, as they seek to export, innovate online, sell intellectual property, expand their reach overseas and grow jobs at home. This bill will ensure Efic remains agile to respond to their financing needs. It will also enable Commonwealth entities and companies to leverage Efic's financing expertise when required. These reforms will make it easier for Efic to support our exporters in their contribution to the growth of Australian jobs and the promotion of trade, tourism and investment.

I thank all those on both sides of the House who have contributed to this debate. I commend the bill to the House.

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