COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA Official Committee Hansard HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STANDING COMMITTEE ON ECONOMICS, FINANCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Reference: The state of Australia’s manufactured export and import competing base MONDAY, 28 AUGUST 2006 MELBOURNE BY AUTHORITY OF THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES INTERNET The Proof and Official Hansard transcripts of Senate committee hear- ings, some House of Representatives committee hearings and some joint committee hearings are available on the Internet. Some House of Representatives committees and some joint committees make avail- able only Official Hansard transcripts. The Internet address is: http://www.aph.gov.au/hansard To search the parliamentary database, go to: http://parlinfoweb.aph.gov.au HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES STANDING COMMITTEE ON ECONOMICS, FINANCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Monday, 28 August 2006 Members: Mr Baird (Chair), Dr Emerson (Deputy Chair), Mr Ciobo, Mr Fitzgibbon, Ms Grierson, Mr Keenan, Mr McArthur, Mr Secker, Mr Somlyay and Mr Tanner Members in attendance: Mr Baird, Dr Emerson, Ms Grierson, Mr McArthur and Mr Tanner Terms of reference for the inquiry: To inquire into and report on: the state and future directions of Australia’s manufactured export and import competing base, focusing on, but not limited to: • Australia’s dominance in commodities exports and the impacts of this on the economy following the resources boom; • the state of the country's manufacturing sector (and the goods and associated services) including opportunities and challenges from the expansion in global trade (in particular by China); and • policies for realising these opportunities. WITNESSES BECK, Dr Vaughan, Technical Director, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering....................................................................................................................................................... 41 CAREY, Mr Peter, Member, Australian Council of Wool Exporters and Processors.............................. 60 HAUG, Ms Elly Vivienne, Government Liaison Manager, Ford Motor Company of Australia ................ 2 LARKIN, Mr Don, Chief Executive Officer, Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.............. 30 LAVER, Mr Peter John, Vice President, Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering....................................................................................................................................................... 41 LILLIE, Mr Jamie, Executive Committee Member, Australian Council of Wool Exporters and Processors ......................................................................................................................................................... 60 MORGAN, Dr Peter David, Executive Director, Australian Council of Wool Exporters and Processors ......................................................................................................................................................... 60 PEART, Mr David Maxwell, Executive Officer, Geelong Manufacturing Council ................................... 50 SARDER, Ms Monika, Senior Policy and Research Coordinator, Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy.................................................................................................................................... 30 SCOULAR, Mr Russell Gray, Government Affairs Manager, Ford Motor Company of Australia.......... 2 VASILE, Mr Sal, Member, Australian Council of Wool Exporters and Processors................................. 60 WELLS, Dr Julie, Director, Policy and Planning, RMIT University.......................................................... 20 WOODLAND, Ms Katrina, Research Analyst, Policy and Planning, RMIT University .......................... 20 Monday, 28 August 2006 REPS EFPA 1 Committee met at 9.08 am CHAIR (Mr Baird)—I declare open this public hearing of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Economics, Finance and Public Administration inquiry into the state of Australia’s manufactured export and import competing base now and beyond the resources boom. The inquiry was referred by the Treasurer, the Hon. Peter Costello MP, on 3 May 2006. The inquiry has authorised 30 submissions to date from various parts of Australia and from a broad cross-section of interested parties. Copies of these submissions are available on the committee’s website. Australia’s resources sector is currently experiencing an economic boom driven mainly by unprecedented global demand for raw materials by China. We have now been experiencing economic growth for over 15 years, which defies the historical economic cycle of peaks and troughs within this period. Australia is now operating within a different economic framework to the past, most notably a global one. However, past behaviour is the best predictor of future behaviour. History indicates that high commodity prices cannot be sustained indefinitely. The committee is therefore investigating the robustness and preparedness for the future of our other dominant trade sectors and the impacts of or synergies from the resources boom. This hearing will concentrate on the state and future directions of Australia’s manufacturing sector. Today we will be hearing from representatives of the Ford Motor Company of Australia Ltd, RMIT University, the Australasian Institute of Mining and Metallurgy, the Australian Academy of Technological Sciences and Engineering, the Geelong Manufacturing Council and the Australian Council of Wool Exporters and Processors. I remind witnesses that, although the committee does not require you to give evidence under oath, this hearing is a legal proceeding of parliament and warrants the same respect as proceedings of the House itself. The giving of false or misleading evidence is a serious matter and may be regarded as contempt of parliament. The evidence given today will be recorded by Hansard and will attract parliamentary privilege. I ask members of the media who may be present to report this hearing fairly and accurately. ECONOMICS, FINANCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION EFPA 2 REPS Monday, 28 August 2006 [9.11 am] HAUG, Ms Elly Vivienne, Government Liaison Manager, Ford Motor Company of Australia SCOULAR, Mr Russell Gray, Government Affairs Manager, Ford Motor Company of Australia CHAIR—Welcome. Although the committee does not require you to give evidence under oath, proceedings before this committee have the same standing as proceedings before the parliament. We have received a written submission to this inquiry from you, which is comprehensive, and we thank you for that. Do you wish to present an additional submission or make an opening statement to the committee? Mr Scoular—Thank you very much for the opportunity to be with you this morning. From our perspective, there is little doubt that the automotive industry is a cornerstone of Australia’s manufacturing capability. It is a significant investor, employer, innovator, exporter and producer of complex manufactured goods. It is not only a cornerstone of manufacturing capability but, we would submit, an integral part of our increasingly knowledge based economy. As indicated in our submission, we believe Ford Australia is very much at the forefront of this industry, which is contributing significantly to the national economy. At present, despite a sound domestic economic environment and strong overall market demand, our domestic automotive industry is being affected by a number of significant external factors. We have all before encountered rising oil prices, a strong Australian dollar, rising commodity prices and various global automotive industry challenges. However, we have rarely before encountered a convergence of all of these external factors within the same time frame. As businesspeople, we simply have to seek to manage our way through these challenges. This hopefully short-term variability emphasises why long-term stability of automotive policy is so important to us. As indicated, the industry’s valued policy assistance arrangements did not insulate us from short-term challenges. They do, however, provide a framework under which we can structure our businesses and seek to be competitive in what is already one of the most open and toughest automotive markets in the world. At Ford Australia we have been able to attract significant investment in a bid to continue to be a significant part of this country’s manufacturing industry. We invested more than $500 million in developing the Ford Territory model. We recently announced a $1.8 billion investment strategy over 10 years which will see our product development team, for example, take on a regional centre of excellence role for the corporation throughout the Asia-Pacific and Africa region and lead the design and engineering of a new commercial vehicle which is intended to be sold in more than 80 countries around the world. That project alone will represent R&D revenues to Ford Australia of some $700 million through its model cycle. This also represents one of the largest automotive R&D export initiatives undertaken in Australia. Our record of involving the local component supplier industry and community in our business and in the operations of our business is a significant one. We are a substantial buyer of locally ECONOMICS, FINANCE AND PUBLIC ADMINISTRATION Monday, 28 August 2006 REPS EFPA 3 manufactured components, purchasing more than $2.3 billion worth annually. These purchases are made after a careful analysis of many factors, including supplier technology capability, quality,