Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

There are many factors that are going to contribute to how successful we will be in rebooting Australian manufacturing. The federal budget outlines the Morrison government's $1.5 billion Modern Manufacturing Strategy that will grow our national manufacturing sector by getting economic the conditions right for business, making science and technology work for industry, focusing on Australia's areas of advantage and building our national resilience. As we implement this strategy and lift the game on manufacturing, and advanced manufacturing in particular, one of the more understated but important factors for its success is how we protect the intellectual property, or IP, of Australian businesses through good policymaking without stunting innovation, growth and capability. The strong support for manufacturers to become more competitive, scale up and create local jobs reaffirms the need to strengthen these protections now, particularly while trust in Australian made is at record highs. Recent studies found nine per cent of Australians associate the iconic golden kangaroo logo with safe and high-quality products, while 97 per cent can associate it with supporting local jobs. Businesses are responding by capitalising on this groundswell of community support, with monthly applications for the Australian made licence up 400 per cent since January of this year.

Just this week, Tracy, the managing director of Plustec, in Emu Plains in my electorate of Lindsay, informed me that she's received her Australian made certification. Plustec are making the type of high-quality product that the Australian made brand is known for, manufacturing firm or double glazed windows and doors that help secure homes and drive down energy costs.

As consumer demand for Australian made products increases, and more manufacturers like Tracy emerge and expand with the measures implemented in the budget, we must ensure the IP of Australian manufacturers is protected in order to prevent foreign companies undermining the integrity of the Australian made reputation and eroding trust in our high-quality products.

Tracy is also a member of my Advanced Manufacturing Taskforce, which I established to address the challenges facing Australian manufacturers and explore opportunities to create more local jobs. The task force is investigating opportunities to leverage our advantages and breakdown the barriers holding back Australian manufacturers by gathering firsthand accounts of the challenges facing manufacturing. The task force has already shown a glimpse into the challenge of IP theft facing manufacturers in Western Sydney and across Australia. Global data trends support the task force's firsthand account showing that IP theft is significantly on the rise and costs countries hundreds of billions of dollars.

The OECD reports that in 2016 3.3 per cent of world trade was in fake goods, up from 2.5 per cent in 2013, and the global cost was around $720 billion. The OECD report found that the highest number of counterfeit shipments being seized were from China, which exported 47 per cent of the fake goods traded worldwide in 2016 at a value of around $340 billion. Of the fake goods traded globally 35 per cent were in electrical machinery and electronics.

Recently I met with Robert and the team at GPC Electronics in Jamisontown, who are contributing towards the tactical edge servers that will play a key role in the battle space communications capacity of the Army's Boxer Combat Reconnaissance Vehicles. Robert told me how securing this contract would open the door to new opportunities for GPC to contribute to our national defence industry and grow their business. In Lindsay, and across Australia, manufacturers like GPC Electronics are creating advanced products and rely on both their products and their brand to be protected.

There is no doubt IP theft is happening here in Australia. You just have to speak with local manufacturers to find out that this is a problem. One manufacturer, Geoff, who's an engineer and makes Australian-made machines using local factories, said that he's had clients have every part of his catalogue reproduced overseas. He said it's heartbreaking to see that local manufacturers are being forced out of business before it's too late. This is why it's so important that we take IP theft seriously in our country. If we're serious about backing our advanced manufacturers, we must be serious about protecting them as well.

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