Make it here

Professor Roy Green has made some important recommendations in his recent report, but the Rudd government must go further to secure a vital and vibrant TCF industry for Australia, writes Michele O'Neil.

Prime Minister Kevin Rudd has said he wants to lead "a country that actually makes things" but after a decade of neglect and mismanagement under the Howard Government, he will need to show innovative thinking and leadership in responding to the review of Australia's textile, clothing and footwear (TCF) industry. 

The TCF industry remains an important Australian industry. It is a $2.8 billion industry and continues to employ over 48,000 people in the formal manufacturing sector and many thousands more in the informal sector as outworkers. The Green review offers the opportunity to grow and revitalise the industry's substantial manufacturing base and support and develop new and emerging parts of the industry.

Under the Howard Government 40,000 jobs were lost in the industry. TCF exports were halved in the last decade, while imports nearly doubled. Government assistance to the industry during this time saw 72 per cent of the funding allocated under programs to minimise the impact of job losses on individual workers given to employers with only 946 individual workers assisted nation wide - a small fraction of redundancies in the industry.

The previous government also failed to link funding for employers to ongoing Australian jobs, awarded funds to companies that did not comply with employment laws, and also provided, in at least one instance, funds to an insolvent company where workers lost jobs and $2.8 million of entitlements. The Green review addresses some of the past deficiencies by focusing on the potential for the Australian TCF industry to remake itself as one that is innovative, ethical, and green.

It also sets a challenge to the industry to clean up its act and take some responsibility for its future. The TCF Industry is alive and important to the continued growth and development of our economy. Many Australian fashion designers are household names worldwide, while companies like ADA in Bendigo produce leading-edge technology, such as the Modular Combat Body Armour System used by the Australian Defence Force.

Over $800 million of Australian TCF goods were exported in the last financial year and the value-added/sales ratio for TCF was more than for total manufacturing and is growing (28.8 per cent for TCF, 25.75 per cent for manufacturing).

Professor Green's review suggests there is a growing market in ethical goods. This, combined with recent Federal Government funding to the Homeworkers' Code of Practice, presents an opportunity to grow an ethical and local TCF industry for both domestic and international markets. A world renowned designer like Collette Dinnigan exemplifies Australian product that is both ethical - her company is accredited to the Homeworkers' Code of Practice - and at the cutting edge of global fashion.

There is clearly much that this vital industry can offer, yet its future depends on both the industry looking to the future to reshape itself and continued expanded government support and appropriate policies to enable the transformation.
In order to ensure growth in the industry, the government and industry itself must encourage and develop an innovative, smart, ethical, clean and green industry.

We need to treat workers fairly and establish clear environmental standards and build on these strengths to develop a global brand and market for the Australian industry. We must recognise and develop skills and invest and expand training programs and attract people to the industry through quality high wage jobs.

As proposed by Green, the Rudd Government needs to provide effective assistance to retrenched workers. This requires the redesign of current programs to ensure the funding is directed to these workers to genuinely assist with training and finding appropriate jobs. There is an urgent need to guarantee the protection of workers entitlements and to address the scandalous situation of outworkers, who remain the most exploited group of workers in this country.

Continual tariff reductions have seriously hurt the local industry and have had a disastrous impact on workers, their families and whole communities. The Green review provides no supporting evidence for the continued reduction of tariffs, and in fact cites evidence that lowering tariffs from their current optimal level could be harmful to Australia's economy and TCF workers. Tariffs should be frozen until it is in the interests of Australian workers, their families and the broader community to review them and should only be reduced when our trading partners have made commensurate adjustments.

The Green report proposal of $250 million of Government assistance to industry over five years is one tenth of the amount proposed for the Auto industry with thousands more workers and businesses effected. It also does not clearly enough link dollars to ongoing local manufacturing jobs.

One of the most important means by which the Federal Government can support local industry is through Government procurement. The Rudd Government can lead by example by requiring all Commonwealth TCF products to be ethically made by local suppliers.

While the Green review has many positives, the recommendations for reduced financial assistance to workers and companies and continued tariff reduction are inconsistent with the Rudd government's policy commitments and the continued development of a vibrant and vital TCF manufacturing industry.

This is not in line with a Prime Minister who wants to live in a country that 'actually makes things'. The great majority of Australians do too. And also we want to live in a country where a government sticks to its election commitments.

By Michele O'Neil