Paul Neville (Hinkler, National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is addressed to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade. Would the Deputy Prime Minister outline to the House how Australia’s exports have benefited from the government’s economic reforms over the last 10 years? How will these new workplace reforms further assist exporters and keep our economy strong?

Mark Vaile (Lyne, National Party, Minister for Trade) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Hinkler for his question. Of course, the member for Hinkler represents a part of Queensland that is totally focused on exports, and it is interesting to see the shift in the mix of exports out of the electorate of Hinkler, including manufactured exports. Yesterday we released the 2006 trade statement, which indicated that there had been a 15 per cent increase in 2005 to $176.7 billion of goods and services exported out of Australia. We all recall that, back in 1996, that figure was $99 billion. So, over that period, the figure has gone from $99 billion worth of exports of goods and services to $176.7 billion worth of exports of goods and services.

As part of that effort last year, many of our major exports had a record year. Our beef exports had a record year in 2005. Our lamb exports, our iron ore exports, our coal exports and our education exports had a record year in 2005. Motor vehicles and manufactured products had a record year last year. Medicines manufactured in Australia had a record year in 2005. They all had a record year and they all contributed to a record year in overall exports of $176.7 billion.

The member for Hinkler asked what the government’s reforms have done in helping to strengthen the capacity of Australia’s exporters. They have done a lot. I will mention two reforms we have undertaken over the last 10 years that were opposed every inch of the way by the Australian Labor Party. In our tax reform package, we removed $3 billion worth of taxes off the back of our Australian exports every year. We removed $3 billion of taxes that were a burden to Australian exports going overseas and made them more competitive.

We all remember the second tranche of workplace relations reform: reform of the waterfront. Remember how hard fought that was in this country? The reform of the waterfront increased the crane rate on the waterfront from 17 TEUs an hour to 28 TEUs an hour. We were being told by the Labor Party and the union movement that you could not improve it beyond 17 lifts an hour, and now it is 28 lifts an hour. Many exporters say the one single thing this government has done that has benefited them is to improve the efficiency of the waterfront so that they can get their product through the waterfront when they need to.

We have eliminated Labor’s debt—the $96 billion debt that we inherited. We have helped keep interest rates low so that our exporters are more competitive. There have been 1.7 million jobs created in the Australian economy. Wages, over the last 10 years, have grown by 16.8 per cent.

In November last year in answer I think to a question from the member for Hinkler, I used a quote from a manufacturing exporter, a company by the name of Austchilli, in Bundaberg in his electorate. They said then that workplace reform was the next step they needed to secure the position of their business in the international marketplace. It is interesting that the founder and owner of Austchilli, David de Paoli, said today that he now has 50 employees. Last year he had 35, so he has 15 extra from last year. He said:

This new legislation gives me more flexibility with employee-employer relationships. That will allow us to increase productivity without the need for any redundancies.

He went on to say:

I have no intention of sacking anyone, and I do not think they have any intention of walking out, because we are on the same side, working together to compete against the rest of the world.

That is a manufacturing employer in the member for Hinkler’s electorate, and that is what he is doing today with the new workplace relations reforms. Despite the scare tactics that have been run by the Labor Party and the union movement, employers and employees are working with our government to keep the Australian economy strong.