Steve Georganas (Hindmarsh, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I too rise to ask some questions and talk about manufacturing, as my colleague from Makin just did, about South Australia, especially in my electorate of Hindmarsh in the western suburbs. My electorate was a hub of manufacturing. We made everything—you name it—from shoes to motor vehicles by Lightburn back in the sixties and seventies. What we have seen is the diminishing exodus of manufacturing industries.

This is what I want to ask the minister: what are you doing to assist manufacturing, especially in the western suburbs of Adelaide or South Australia? We had industries, like Perry Engineering, with over 250 workers. Perry decided to downsize, moving some of its operations offshore. We had Hills Industries do the same thing—another 250 workers gone. We had Clarks Shoes that employed up to 300 people on two shifts in the suburb of Marleston. They made a whole range of things, including school shoes. They offshored, to Fiji, to pay very cheap wages.

To top it off, we had former Treasurer Hockey dare GMH to leave—which they did. We would like to know why on earth Mr Hockey would make a speech like that which dares GMH to leave—and they did, the following day. They made the announcement that over 1,000 people lost their jobs, and there was the 30,000 ripple effect across the South Australian community in manufacturing and everything else.

There is one industry in my electorate. There is one bootmaker who is absolutely adamant about staying in Adelaide, in the western suburbs. It is the longstanding family owned company Rossi Boots. They are employing people locally. They are a proud family owned Australian business that has been operating since 1910. They are a significant contributor to my community and to manufacturing in South Australia. They are 100 per cent proudly Australian owned, employing about 100 people. And there are many people around the country, including me, who wear their wonderful well-made Rossi boots. In addition to being a popular leisure wear company they have gained a reputation for producing footwear that meets the specific high demands of industry, notably supplying the Australian military.

Unlike many other manufacturers, Rossi is determined not to move its operations overseas, because they are proudly Australian, they are proudly in the manufacturing industry and they are proud of the product they make. But this is proving difficult for them. For example, in 2014, this wonderful Australian owned company lost its bid to provide boots to Defence and other uniformed personnel, costing the company a substantial amount of time and money. Unfortunately, the contract was awarded to a company in Indonesia, which has no benefit to the economy in Australia.

The reason given by the government of the time was 'value for money'. But this is exactly the kind of manufacturing we need in Australia, especially in South Australia. The flow-on benefits, the value, are enormous for the local economy. They are enormous to people who would earn their wages locally, pay their taxes locally and spend their money locally. Compare those benefits to what the government calls value for money. I would like to know how that is calculated. Local industry provides benefits for the local area, in terms of taxes that are paid, money that is spent, which helps our economy go round, and jobs that are created. Compare that to people going on the doll queue. Tell us where that difference is and how that was value for money. They gave it to an overseas company. That has no benefit to our economy.

I would like to know why the government is continually failing to support South Australian manufacturers, like Rossi Boots. How will the government properly recognise the immense value that local companies provide to our economy, in future procurement processes, and what is the government doing to support local industries to become more efficient and competitive in the global market? What is the government doing to assist existing manufacturers keep their operations local and enable new industries to grow and thrive, therefore creating new jobs and more money in the economy?

A good example of this is the South Australian state government, which just gave them a grant for $250,000 to be able to have a product online to sell overseas, which will benefit them enormously. That is a good example of where we are helping manufacturing; I would like to know what this government is doing.

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