Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader for Science) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Finance, Senator Cormann. I refer the minister to a report in this morning's Herald Sunrevealing widespread purchasing by federal government departments of paper from foreign suppliers that the Anti-Dumping Commission identifies as being in breach of the WTO rules and of the government's own dumping standards. Minister, why is the government allowing so many agencies—including the Department of the Prime Minister and Cabinet and your own department—to put Australian jobs at risk by supporting unfair and damaging trade practices?

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank Senator Carr for his question. As he knows, Australian suppliers are very well represented in Commonwealth procurement, with approximately 94 per cent of Commonwealth contracts being awarded to Australian suppliers in each of the three years from 2012-13 to 2014-15. The Anti-Dumping Commission has a current investigation into the alleged dumping of copy paper exported to Australia from countries that account for the most significant volumes of paper exports to Australia, namely Brazil, China, Indonesia and Thailand. On 29 September the commission found that A4 paper exported from China and Thailand had been dumped. On 4 November it made the same findings for paper from Brazil and Indonesia, and the commission has required securities in respect of interim dumping duties that may become payable. So the laws are being implemented as appropriate.

Labor's record of high energy costs and industry shutdowns have not been helpful to Australian manufacturers. The federal government will deliver $43 million, for example, to support the Hazelwood power station workers in Victoria's Latrobe Valley following closure of the facility in 2017. These are some of the practical steps that we are taking. Labor made manufacturing businesses in Australia less competitive internationally. It is Labor's responsibility because they put burdens onto those manufacturing businesses by imposing a carbon tax which was pushing the cost of electricity to manufacturing businesses up and up and up—costs that are not faced by our competitors in other parts of the world. Of course, if Labor ever had the chance of getting back into government, they would come back and introduce a carbon tax again; they would again impose burdens on manufacturing businesses in Australia, making it harder for them to compete. This government has a proud record when it comes to supporting Australian manufacturing.

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Carr, a supplementary question.

Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader for Science) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister, why is your department purchasing 41 per cent of its paper from Indonesia, which the dumping commission has found to be dumped? In light of the imminent closure of the Hazelwood power station, and given that APM's mill in Maryvale is the second largest employer in the region, should the Australian government not be doing its bit to support families in the Latrobe Valley by using Australian made paper?

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Australian government wants Australian businesses to have the best possible opportunity to sell products and services all around the world. We want Australian manufacturing businesses and Australian businesses generally to be able to export Australian products and services. The Commonwealth procurement rules, as Senator Carr well knows, identify that potential suppliers to government must be treated equitably and cannot be discriminated against due to their size, degree of foreign affiliation or ownership location, or the origin of their goods or services. This is an important principle that our exporting businesses also rely on when supplying goods and services in overseas markets because, importantly, the nondiscriminatory rules contained in our various export agreements ensure that Australian suppliers are not disadvantaged when tendering for government procurement in countries with which we have such agreements in place. The senator for Pyongyang, the senator from North Korea, he wants us to go back to a situation—

Stephen Parry (President) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Senator Cormann, that is not in order and your time has expired. Senator Carr.

Kim Carr (Victoria, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister Assisting the Leader for Science) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Minister, when will the Australian government finally repudiate its ongoing campaign against the interests of Australian families and use its purchasing power to support Australian paper workers in Australian jobs at Australian factories?

Mathias Cormann (WA, Liberal Party, Minister for Finance) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Where has the proud old Labor Party of Bob Hawke and Paul Keating gone? Where has the Labor Party gone that was promoting Australia as an open trading economy? Where has the party of Bob Hawke and Paul Keating gone which lowered tariffs in order to ensure that the Australian economy could be the most competitive it possibly could be internationally, which made sure that Australian businesses were able to sell high-quality Australian products and services in other parts of the world so consumers here in Australia could benefit from the competitively priced high-quality products that were coming here from other parts of the world? The Australian economy is in its 26th year of continued economic growth, and that is based on the proud reforms of the Hawke, Keating, Howard and subsequently Abbott and Turnbull governments. I know that Senator Carr wants to take Australia backwards into the period when we had a big fence around Australia. That is not the approach of the Turnbull government. We stand for an open, prosperous trading economy.(Time expired)

George Brandis (Queensland, Liberal Party, Attorney-General) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I ask that further questions be placed on the Notice Paper.