TCF delegation in Canberra

CANBERRA: The Australian textile, clothing and footwear sector needs to forget about competing with low-cost producers at the bottom of the market if it is survive, industry representatives had been told. Speaking at the TCF Industry Showcase in Canberra's Parliament House this morning (September 22), Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research Kim Carr said the story of TCF in Australia was not a story of "doom and gloom" as suggested by some in the sector.

Carr repeated his mantra that the sector needed to build on its capabilities and successes to develop new opportunities, products, technologies and markets.

"To do that we need to forget about competing with low-cost producers at the bottom of the market and follow the example of other developed countries that have repositioned their TCF industries at the high end."

The gathering was organised by The Council of Textile and Fashion Industries of Australia (TFIA), the Technical Textiles & Nonwoven Association (TTNA) and the The Textile, Clothing and Footwear Union of Australia (TCFUA) in an attempt to showcase the TCF industry to government and the media. The mission, includes a trade show Forging a TCF Future, and ministerial visits to press the association's case for a tariff freeze and an expansion on industry assistance.

Meetings have also been sought with Deputy Prime Minister Julia Gillard, Treasurer Wayne Swan and Trade Minister Simon Crean.

The gathering follows the Friday release of Professor Roy Gereen's review of the Australian TCF industries which endorsed scheduled tariff cuts to five per cent by 2015 and recommended $80 million in additional funding including $5 milion for a new national sizing standard.

The union has identified five major concerns with Professor Green's report including:

• the recommendation that allows planned tariff reductions to proceed;
• what it terms as the "severe" underfunding of industry assistance;
• the failure to guarantee the linking of government financial assistance to local manufacturing;
• the cuts to provision of funding to assist redundant workers; and
• the lack of guaranteed protection of workers' entitlements.

TCFUA national secretary Michele O'Neil said the union was shocked at the amount of industry assistance proposed.

"The TCF sector employs more Australians and is made up of many more thousands of businesses than the automotive industry yet we are being asked to accept a tenth of the assistance recommended for automotive and to deal with tariff reductions. A TCF worker is not worth less than an automotive worker, she said.

For more on this subject see the next issue of Ragtrader on sale from October 3.