Ricky Muir (Victoria, Australian Motoring Enthusiast Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That the Senate notes the economic, social and other benefits of motorsport in Australia.

This speech may not start where a few people think it will, but bear with me; I will get back to why I am starting this way. It is a matter of great regret that large-scale new vehicle manufacturing in Australia is going to cease by the end of 2017. Of course this is not new news but, as with any good relationship gone bad, it is news that does not get better with time. Between my home state of Victoria and our neighbour to the west, South Australia, it is forecasted that between new vehicle manufacturers, original equipment manufacturers, downstream parts suppliers and the subsequent flow-on effects we will see upward of 150,000 to 200,000 jobs lost. This is at a time when unemployment is already at an uncomfortable high. I do not think we need to be contributing to that.

The way I see it, we can either sit on our hands and do nothing, as appears to have been allowed to happen with our automotive manufacturing, or turn our focus to what we do well and allow new and existing businesses and opportunities to flourish. It is hard to argue that subsidising an auto sector—like every other country which manufactures cars does—at a time of need would not represent value for money. But there we were, not long before I took my seat in this place, essentially goading the auto sector into leaving our shores. It was a very disappointing point in our history and one which, in my eyes, stands out as almost economic vandalism. Subsidising the sector, keeping a potential 150,000 to 200,000 people in the southern states in a job, makes sense. Allowing the industry to leave, potentially putting those people on welfare, makes no sense at all. If we are not a country of manufacturers, we are a country of importers. This leaves us at the mercy of others in a very uncertain world. Some say, now that new vehicle manufacturing is leaving our shores, that the auto sector is dead. This is far from the truth. Much as I would like to see a rise of the phoenix in our vehicle manufacturing, an important fact that many people are not aware of is that new vehicle manufacturing is one-fifth of our auto sector. We need to focus on the other 80 per cent that is still there, and there are opportunities for it to grow, expand and even start in new directions.

So how does this statement tie in with the economic and social benefits of motorsport? I will start with a report written by Ernst & Young commissioned by the Confederation of Australian Motorsport, CAMS, in 2013. As the report states, it:

… highlights the importance of the motor sport industry to Australia, by estimating the economic contribution, value add and employment of the industry in 2013. This study also estimates other key measures, such as the number of participants, clubs and venues across Australia.

At this point it is important to mention that this report only covers four-wheeled motorsport and does not cover the economic benefits of two-wheeled motorsport. The report identified that four-wheeled motorsport contributes $2.7 billion in direct industry output and $1.2 billion in direct value-added, and creates 16,300 full-time jobs. This is an astounding economic contribution—and, as previously mentioned, it does not include two-wheeled motorsport. The report also notes that there are 17,419 licensed volunteer officials in Australia, who are responsible for running the majority of motorsport events held each year. It notes that motorsport is the fourth most watched sport in Australia and that 80 per cent of the people surveyed said that 'being with family and friends' is an important reason why they are involved. We all need a sense of belonging. The family culture around motorsport, which I, alongside hundreds of thousands of other Australians, am very familiar with, provides an important sense of belonging.

The Ernst & Young report also identifies that 30 per cent of motorsport participants live in regional areas and that 85 per cent of motorsport venues are available to those in regional areas. When attending a round of the V8 Supercars in Winton, Victoria, earlier this year I was glad to hear that this one event brought $17 million dollars to the local economy in just that one four-day weekend—$17 million to a rural community. I believe that Winton running that event each year creates around 400 jobs. There is no arguing that that is a huge benefit to the regional area—and other regional areas—and one that should be looked after and maintained well into the future. I have been informed that the Mildura drag strip contributes $60 million to the local economy every year. This is money and employment created just by people getting away from their TV and enjoying their lifestyle.

Motorcycling Australia hosts a number of national and international events each year that contribute significantly to the national, state and local economies as well. Events such as the MotoGP, world superbikes at Phillip Island each year, world trials championships and world speedway grand prix events contribute tens of millions of dollars to the economy. Events like the motocross national championships, Australian speedway and supercross championships and Australian Superbike Championship contribute millions more. In 2014, Motorcycling Australia through its state controlled bodies and affiliated clubs issued licences for more than 66,500 people to participate in organised motorcycling activities. This included participation in competitive and non-competitive events as riders, officials and coaches. Over 5,500 permits were issued for Motorcycling Australia affiliated clubs across Australia, of which more than 300 were to conduct motorcycling events, which worked out to an average of 105 events being run per week.

Naturally, hand in hand with motorsport comes the aftermarket industry. The aftermarket industry is heavily supported by motorsport and is a $13 billion industry. In 2013 it was worth around $11 billion. So it is actually growing without government financial support; it is currently highly successful without the need for subsidies. It also employs around 30,000 people. Of the $13 billion generated by this industry $5 billion is from local manufacturing in Australia. A decent proportion of this $5 billion is generated from the manufacturing of specialty equipment specifically designed for motorsport. An example of such a manufacturer is Albins, which is located at Delacombe in my home state of Victoria. Albins manufacture transmissions and gears for a range of motorsport applications. And as times change they have also diversified into the defence industry, supplying product for the Bushranger armoured vehicles. They also supply transaxles for the V8 Supercars and export internationally.

PWR Performance Products manufacture cooling systems for the Red Bull Formula One Team and have a huge variety of bolt-in aftermarket accessories for a variety of standard applications right through to the many different disciplines of motorsport. And this is not to forget successful Australian businesses such as SupaShock—for whom my colleague Senator Xenophon has become a passionate advocate—Xforce Exhaust, Turbosmart and ARB. ARB are an Australian specialist manufacturer in aftermarket four-wheel drive accessories. They are an ASX listed company with operations in Melbourne, the US and Thailand and they export to over 100 countries. That is only a very, very small proportion of our small businesses that manufacture aftermarket products in Australia; there are thousands more.

There are many different disciplines of motorsport. People seem to think that motorsport consists of V8 Supercars, Formula One and MotoGP. However, this is far from the truth. These are highly successful, high-profile events but there are many more types of motorsport: motocross, hillclimbs,one-eighth mile and one-quarter mile drag racing, rally, speedway and go-carting. And there is even lawnmower racing on modified ride-on lawnmowers—they do not have the cutting deck anymore!

One area I am extremely supportive of is grassroots motorsport. Like all sport, you don't begin at an elite level. None of us is lucky enough to walk straight into the V8 Supercars and have a career. But you have to start somewhere and that is generally at the local club level. Grassroots motorsport is typically entry level motorsport, the type of sport you can enter at a minimum cost. It gives those who may have an interest in competing in a safe and legal environment a place to compete and a facility to help encourage people to keep antisocial behaviour off our streets. We give those who want to play cricket a field, we give those who want to play football an oval and we create parks for those who want to skate. Yet in 2014-15 CAMS received only $339,800 of federal assistance. In comparison, sailing received a $1.25 million boost to its allocation, which took its funding up to $8,096,400.

In Gippsland I have been working in close contact with a local club at Bairnsdale that is currently in the process of creating a 'multiplex'. The facility is being built on the site of a drag strip which unfortunately was demolished a few years back. Currently in its rebuild stage, the Bairnsdale multiplex has run some very successful 'show and shines' and large burnout competitions while it is awaiting the necessary funds to finalise the track to get it back to being able to host drag racing events. The club is also hosting multi-events once every month, which includes Supermoto. It has a near-complete four-wheel drive track, which will create an opportunity for people to race off-road in a four-wheel drive in a safe and legal environment. It is an affordable place for people to go to spin their wheels in a competition style if they so desire. It is not everyone's cup of tea. But we know people like to do it, so we should be providing them with a facility.

This has strong support from the local police as they see the value of having the venue to point people in the right direction. That is not just something I am reading from a bit of paper. It is an actual statement. I have spoken directly to the local police. They are very supportive of having this venue to encourage people to go to the right place. If we did not provide people with a football oval on which to play their sport, there would be plenty of people playing football on the streets. We have seen many reports in the media about hoons doing the wrong thing. I do not support antisocial behaviour at all. If someone is doing the wrong thing, they absolutely deserve to have the book thrown at them. But we should at least be encouraging people to go to the right place. We have seen the economic benefits and, of course, we have seen the social benefits of keeping it off the streets and making our roads a safer place. If we want to encourage people to keep it off the streets, I think the social benefits of having a track to go to makes a great deal of sense.

It would probably come as no surprise that many, many people are calling for access to tracks at which they can compete at a grassroots level. It is often said that if you get your kids into cars they will not have the time or money for drugs. These grassroots motorsport clubs provide a sense of community, extended family and belonging. Motorsport clubs provide members with personal support networks. These are all key ingredients in providing positive mental health outcomes. I am part of the Maffra & District Car Club. They hold a junior development program. So the motorsport facility is also used as a driver education facility. The junior development program gives you an opportunity to learn how to brake in a car, take off in a car and position yourself in a car.

Rather than someone passing a test at 16 years of age and then going on to look at their learner's permit and hitting the road for the very first time without ever having taken their foot off the clutch, there is an opportunity to teach them how to drive. Many other motorsport venues do the same thing. There are so many volunteers who get involved who like to participate in a better outcome for young drivers.

Something that is not so much motorsport related but which is tied in, is that motorsport clubs generally have a tendency to get heavily involved in charities—charity rides to raise money for cancer events or missing children events. One I have heard of recently was from somebody in the Victorian Torana Club. The Melbourne Old School Cruisers club got together about 600 cars to raise money for a missing child. I think that is an important social factor which is regularly missed out on. I am aware that I am running out of time, so I might have to cut some of the speech out—actually, I will continue. I have never really gone for the whole 20 minutes!

In Queensland recently, motorsport and enthusiast clubs from a variety of backgrounds came together in support of a charity need. Bravehearts Highway Thunder is a convoy of road cars, four-wheel drives, bikes and trucks that all meet up at a 'show-n-shine' to raise money for programs to educate, empower and protect Australian children against sexual abuse. For the last 15 years Four Wheel Drive Queensland has run the annual Fraser Island Cleanup. In mentioning this event, I would also like to single out Jeff and Nola Chase, who I have been told have been the driving force behind this event. It was their idea to utilise the resources of Four Wheel Drive Queensland in the beginning. I have it on good authority that Jeff and Nola were both recognised for their volunteer commitment to the event and to Fraser Island when they were presented with an award by the Queensland Parks and Wildlife Services in 2012.

I should mention why I started with the death, or perceived death, of our automotive industry. I have mentioned the after-market industry, the passionate people in the car clubs and so on. With the correct policy settings, we can use this after-market industry—which is already very self-sufficient—and create an industry that can grow and soak up some of the jobs that are going to be lost when automotive manufacturing leaves by 2017. We can encourage motorsport and the industries that are supported by it. We are good at it, so we should be doing everything we can, no matter how big or how small, to allow our industries to soak up the excess jobs that are going to be lost.

During the recent Australian Automotive Industry Summit of the Motor Trades Association of Australia, comments were made that there is not enough spoken about motorsport in Australia at a federal level. I have two minutes and 30 seconds left, although I have cut part of my speech out, so I hope at least that this motion has started a new direction in conversation and covered that!