Ian Causley (Page, Deputy-Speaker) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is directed to the Deputy Prime Minister and Minister for Trade. Would the Deputy Prime Minister outline to the House the benefits of international trade for regional Australians. How are government policies assisting regional exporters? Are there any alternative views?

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

I thank the member for Page for his question. The member for Page and one of the companies in his electorate know first-hand the benefits of the government’s trade policy agenda, particularly of the bilateral negotiations we have been engaged in in the free trade agreements. The member for Page knows of the benefits that have accrued to a company by the name of Permo-Drive, located on the North Coast of New South Wales, and the access that it has into the United States. It is doing business not just in the United States but also with the United States Army, with some new technology it has developed. This has come about in the last 12 months or so, ably supported by the member for Page.

We are continuing to provide new and improved opportunities for exporters out of regional Australia. It is well known that one in four jobs in regional Australia relies on exporting industries—it is one in four jobs in regional Australia and one in five across Australia, so it is more important in regional Australia. We are doing that on a couple of fronts. We are doing it on the multilateral front but also in our bilateral negotiations. I would like to give the House some examples of regional companies that have benefited from bilateral free trade agreements.

A company in north Rockhampton, Dobinsons Spring and Suspension, which produces four-wheel drive accessories, has benefited from tariff reductions achieved in the free trade agreement with Thailand. Managing Director Glen Dobinson says, ‘We’re about 25 per cent cheaper to import than we were pre the Thai-Australia FTA; our Thai distributor says this drop has been a big factor in choosing us over our competitors.’ That is an exporter of manufactured goods. I am glad that the member for Melbourne is present, as he likes to hear about the export of manufactured goods. That company is exporting into the Thai market against South-East Asian competitors.

Bega Cheese down on the South Coast of New South Wales previously made no attempt to export its product into the United States, because of the high tariff barriers to its products. Now its national export business manager, Grahame Hocking, has said, ‘It’s only because the Australia-US FTA came into effect that we decided to enter the US market.’ They are now exporting product into the US market because of that free trade agreement.

The coalition government is focused on providing real market access opportunities through bilateral and multilateral trade negotiations. We have worked on that because we are in contact with regional Australia. I note yesterday the Leader of the Opposition had a much publicised meeting with the NFF. He has found another lobby group that does not just visit Canberra but actually has an office here. He has had a meeting with the NFF and he has said that they have a lot of commonalities in policy with the NFF. The NFF have some very good policies. They have a very good policy on trade, on workplace relations and on telecommunications. I wonder: does the Leader of the Opposition agree with those policies of the NFF?

Most interestingly, after the discussion with the NFF, the Leader of the Opposition said he was going to set up a regional development task force and on the task force he was going to put the regional development spokesman, Simon Crean, the member for Hotham, and the member for Corio, Gavan O’Connor. One of the two people he is to put on the regional development task force he tried to get rid of and the other one he did get rid of. That is how much interest the Leader of the Opposition and the Australian Labor Party show in regional Australia and in helping out regional Australians.