Michael Ronaldson (Victoria, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

That is right. That is probably a better way of putting it. I want to go through some of the key manufacturing statistics, so get your pen ready, Senator Carr. You are just sitting there looking a bit glum—though I can understand that. When you are without policy, you would look as glum as you look, my friend.

For the manufacturing industry, value-adding in 2006-07 was a record $98 billion in real terms, representing 10.3 per cent of GDP. Total manufactured exports rose by $10.2 billion in 2006-07 to reach a record $85.3 billion. If you want the source of these statistics, Senator Carr, just ring my office afterwards and I am sure they will be happy to help you. Over the same period, exports of elaborately transformed manufactures, or ETMs as they are otherwise called, rose by nearly $1.7 billion to reach $28.5 billion. Capital expenditure on investment in manufacturing capacity is running at record levels, having risen at an annual rate of 3.3 per cent from 1996 to 2006 to now be $14.4 billion per annum. In the financial year 2005-06, research and development in the manufacturing sector represented almost 39 per cent of Australia’s total business expenditure on R&D, with total expenditure increasing by 12 per cent to a record of almost $3.9 billion.

As Senator Carr travels around the country, he is simply not being truthful about this. Despite what Senator Carr has been saying, manufacturing exports have increased by an average rate of 5.2 per cent since May 1996. Senator Carr is the same shadow minister whose party over some 13 or 14 years sat around idly while 40,000 manufacturing jobs in this country were lost. In the last quarter there were 22,000 jobs created in the manufacturing sector. I am disappointed that Senator Carr is leaving the chamber.