Melbourne Herald Sun, Australia
Jeff Turnbull
September 19, 2014 04:00pm
MANUFACTURERS and unions have slammed a review of Australia’s textile industriies saying tariffs should not be eased.
The groups are also angry the $250 million assistance on offer, labelling it a paltry amount.
Federal Industry Minister Kim Carr said the review provided clear direction on how the textile, clothing and footwear industries can compete and succeed in an increasingly competitive global environment.
The report, released today, contains 15 broad-ranging recommendations to encourage reform and rejuvenation of Australia’s textile, clothing and footwear (TCF) industries.
It also supports the continuation of the tariff reduction schedule for the industry to 2015 and recommends current programs be replaced with a new $200 million TCF Innovation Capability Program from 2014 on top of other assistance.
Brian Rush, chief executive of Australian Defence Apparel, which employs 300 sewers, said the $200 million assistance won’t go far among 600 small to medium businesses that employ 48,000 people.
“On a cursory look at the report, every one of those businesses would be able to apply (for government assistance) and divide that into the amount available and it’s paltry,” Mr Rush said.
He believed the recommendations in the review, which still has to be adopted by the government, would send Australian manufacturers offshore.
National secretary of the Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia Michele O’Neil was scathing in her assault on the review undertaken by Macquarie Graduate School of Management industry expert Professor Roy Green.
Ms O’Neil said the $200 million assistance offer was only one tenth of what was being proposed for the struggling automotive industry.
“We’re concerned that tariffs should be frozen, it is not a smart policy to reduce tariff levels in Australia to lower levels than our trading partners,” Ms O’Neil said.
She said the government should not assist companies that won’t commit to keeping their jobs in Australia.
“Taxpayers won’t support it and consumers want to be able to buy Australian-made products,” she said.
Prof Green said Australian manufacturers had to get smarter to compete globally.
He said Australian companies can achieve competitive advantage through unique design, quality management and improving the supply chain.
He said China would not be a low cost provider of clothing and textile goods for much longer with plans to move up the quality ladder.
“It’s moving upmarket and it doesn’t want to be a low cost competitor – it wants to be another Germany,” he told reporters.
Senator Carr said before the recommendations in the review were taken up, he wanted to talk with players in the industry and the government to seek their views.
