Barry Haase (Kalgoorlie, Liberal 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 and Minister for Trade update the House on recent figures highlighting Australia’s record export performance? Are there any threats to these record export levels, particularly in Western Australia?

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

I thank the member for Kalgoorlie for his question. Of course, he would be very interested in the latter part of his question, given that he represents the majority of the landmass of Western Australia. The 2005-06 figures show that Australia reached a record export level of $192 billion worth of goods and services out of Australia. That compares to $99 billion worth when Labor was last in office during 1996.

Mr Speaker, if you have a look at where some of the key increases have been, you see that, of our top 20 export products and services, 14 actually hit record levels in 2005-06. An example is coal. There was a 42 per cent increase in the export of coal in 2005-06. The two things that the member for Kalgoorlie would be interested in are obviously iron ore, exports of which were up 54 per cent, predominantly out of Western Australia, and gold, which also comes from the member for Kalgoorlie’s electorate, exports of which were up 29 per cent. So a number of Australia’s key exports are reaching record levels.

In the services sector, the export of education services rose by 13 per cent. The export of tourism and professional and business services also rose, and exports rose in the manufacturing sector in areas such as motor vehicles, up 15 per cent, and medicines, up 18 per cent. All of these contributed to that record level of exports, with $192 billion going out of Australia in the last fiscal year.

This means more job opportunities for more Australians. This export effort has fed into the unemployment level dropping to 4.8 per cent. For the information of the member for Kalgoorlie, although the national unemployment level has dropped to 4.8 per cent, in Western Australia it is 3.1 per cent, significantly as a result of the export industries in that state. We recognise that one in five jobs in the Australian economy rely on export industries. In regional Australia, that is one in four jobs, and many of those are in the member for Kalgoorlie’s electorate in Western Australia.

What are some of the impediments that are confronting our export industries? The Labor Party’s position on workplace relations is one of those. You could talk to many of those great exporting industries in Western Australia, as many of the members of the Labor Party have. The Leader of the Opposition has got himself on a billboard over the road leading into Canberra airport with his shock and awe about ripping up AWAs. The member for Perth is saying to the captains of industry: ‘Don’t listen to what Kim’s saying. We’ll be able to work out how we can manage a flexible workplace if we win office.’ I do not know that there is that level of commitment behind the Leader of the Opposition to ripping up the AWAs, as is seen on the billboard near Canberra airport.

We have achieved these export efforts because we have continued to improve the economic environment in Australia. We have continued to create flexibility so we can compete with the rest of the world. The coalition government have been creating jobs. We know the Labor Party just want to destroy jobs.