Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research) Share this | Hansard source

Without any help from those opposite, Australia throughout the economic crisis outperformed just about every other advanced economy in the world, and Australian manufacturing in particular stood up well to the challenge. In Germany, for instance, manufacturing gross value added slumped by 24 per cent and in the United States it fell by 17 per cent, but in this country there was a fall of 10 per cent. Australia also recorded one of the lowest falls in manufacturing employment. Employment in the sector declined by 6.7 per cent compared to 13 per cent in the United States and 11 per cent in the United Kingdom. The effects of the global economic crisis have, of course, subsided. Manufacturing is making a sustained recovery across advanced economies. Australian manufacturing gross value added has increased by some 5.6 per cent since June last year. (Time expired)