Geoff Lyons (Bass, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise in the House today to speak on manufacturing and Australian jobs. The big supermarkets in Australia should be more scrupulous about the products they put on Australian shelves and make sure that the shelf labelling is large and accurate. Australia should not import products that are produced in situations where child labour is abused. Australian producers and manufacturers have strict standards to adhere to and deserve our support. I support free trade, but what we need is fair trade.

Child labour violates our nation's minimum age laws, threatens young people's physical, mental and emotional wellbeing and often involves intolerable abuse, such as child slavery, child trafficking, debt bondage, forced labour and illicit activities. It also prevents children from going to school and uses children to undermine labour standards. The ACTU state that world wide there is an estimated 250 million children working as child labourers and 73 million are under 10 years old. Twenty-two thousand children die each year in work related accidents and many others fall ill or may be injured through work related incidents. The conditions these children are working in is often unsafe.

The BBC reported just last week that, only two months after the collapse of a factory in Bangladesh, new building inspections have revealed that six out of every 10 factories there are unsafe. More than 1,100 people were killed when pillars supporting the Rana Plaza factory building in Bangladesh gave way. This is an absolute tragedy.

The safety of factory workers in developing countries is not unattainable, although it will mean that we have to accept that we must pay more for goods we buy. After years of embarrassing publicity about working conditions in Asian factories where its products are made, Nike took major steps to improve conditions. Major retailers can and should avoid having to respond to consumer anger by getting out in front of the problem and ensuring safe working conditions for their workers.

There are numerous industries where child labour is used, particularly in agriculture and manufacturing. An estimated 60 per cent of child labour occurs in agriculture, fishing, hunting and forestry. Children have been found harvesting bananas in Ecuador, cotton in Egypt and Yemen, cut flowers in Colombia, oranges in Brazil, cocoa on the Ivory Coast, tea in Argentina and Bangladesh, and fruits and vegetables in the US. Children in commercial agriculture can face long hours in extreme temperatures, health risks from pesticides, little or no pay and inadequate food, water and sanitation.

Millions of children around the world are estimated to be directly involved in manufacturing goods including carpets in India, Pakistan and Egypt; clothing sewn in Bangladesh; footwear made in India and the Philippines; soccer balls sewn in Pakistan; glass and bricks in India; fireworks in China, the Dominican Republic, El Salvador, Guatemala, India and Peru; and surgical instruments in Pakistan. These children are involved in work that under any circumstances is considered unacceptable for children.

There are many approaches to how we can reduce child labour but a simple solution does not exist. A starting point could be that consumers and retailers stop buying products that are made using child labour. You should check the products you buy and find out where and how they are made. Consumers are, however, at a disadvantage because of the labelling on the products we buy. Coles and Woolworths have a moral responsibility in this space.

Australian unions have done a great job in raising awareness of child labour issues through involvement in the Australian Child Labour Network and Union Aid Abroad—APHEDA. I firmly believe that the Australian government needs to look at the things we import. If products are made from child labour they have no place on Australian shelves. We know this issue is not black and white, though. There is much to consider. As global citizens, we have a responsibility to do what is right and to understand how our actions might inadvertently encourage slavery.

I know that many parliamentarians care deeply about this issue, notably Senator the Hon. Ursula Stevens and those members and senators of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade. The dignity that employment provides is tremendous. Labor governments ensure that workers get the protections they need to be happy and productive at work. Creating and supporting jobs is a key objective of this Labor government. That is why we acted to keep the economy growing through the global financial crisis. As a result, our economy is strong.

Australia has solid growth, low inflation, massive investment and low levels of public debt. But we know that the manufacturing sector is experiencing pressures due to the resources boom, a high Australian dollar and intense international competition. That is why we are acting to support and create jobs in manufacturing, both now and in the future. Manufacturing employs around one million Australians. It provides jobs and good skills and decent wages. It generates investment for research and development in technology and capabilities we need in an Australian economy.

Labor is committed to a strong and dynamic manufacturing industry. Our $1 billion Clean Technology Investment Program is helping manufacturers invest in new, more energy-efficient equipment to reduce their costs and improve their competitiveness. The Prime Minister has established a manufacturing task force bringing together manufacturing industry leaders, workforce representatives and government to map out a shared vision for the future. The manufacturing task force found that there are significant opportunities for Australian manufacturing from rapid growth in the Asian region. A brief summary of the measures includes reforms to the antidumping system to ensure Australian manufacturers face fair competition on a genuinely level playing field, supporting jobs now.

The Manufacturing Leaders Group, to be headed by Boeing Australia and South Pacific president Ian Thomas, is developing strategies for the future of manufacturing, ensuring a dynamic manufacturing sector for the future. We recently outlined our Plan for Australian Jobs, which includes three core strategies: backing Australian firms to win more work at home; supporting Australian industries to increase exports and win business abroad; and helping Australian businesses to grow and create jobs for the future. This plan is about what we can do right now to get more work into Australian factories, workshops, offices and construction sites and the service sector. What we must do for Australia is get a bigger slice of the export opportunities in our growing region of the world and secure well-paid, high-skilled jobs now and for the next generation of Australians. It is a plan to harness our best minds, keeping more Australian skills and innovation here and value-adding to further our national interests. This is a $1 billion investment in supporting and creating jobs. By helping industries to adjust to the structural changes of the resources boom, the high Australian dollar and the rise of Asia, we support existing jobs; by ensuring our firms get fair access to major projects generated by the mining boom, we create new local jobs on existing projects; by establishing innovation precincts to bring together industry and the research community, we create new jobs for the future; and, by growing small businesses to create mid-sized businesses, we can prosper on world markets and create new jobs. This is how we are creating the jobs of the future.

As we build future jobs, opportunities and fairness, the federal Labor government are determined to support modern families as they cope with the pressures of modern life. We cannot be at our strongest as a nation unless we help families to be at their strongest. The Leader of the Opposition does not understand the pressures that working Australians have. Australians overwhelmingly are people that work hard and show personal responsibility. They want the government to work with them as they live modern, busy and pressurised lives. They want to stop the negativity of those opposite. Whether for new dads wanting paid parental leave so they can spend time with their children, teenagers being supported to stay on at school, steps to counter cyberbullying, women wanting a government that understands their lives and respects their choices, or older Australians wanting dignity and choice about their care, the Labor government have acted better to meet the needs of Australians who need it most. We have created opportunities for Australian families. I am proud of a government that looks after those who need it most. Fair trade and proper labelling are part of the answer, and Coles and Woolworths owe the people of the world their best efforts in this regard.