LOUISE MAHER: Now, you may have heard about this union push for the Federal Government to adopt a buy Australia policy. This was set, and probably still is, set to be debated at the ALP national conference that's coming up later this week. Well, the Government has got in ahead of this today by announcing a $19 million buy Australia initiative. Lindsay Tanner is the Minister for Finance and he joins us now. Good afternoon to you.
LINDSAY TANNER: Good afternoon, Louise.
LOUISE MAHER: What does this campaign, this program, involve?
LINDSAY TANNER: Well, there's a couple of dimensions. One in my area which is to - through creating a procurement coordinator, improve the quality and depth of information about purchasing across government. That'll improve the opportunities for Australian companies, at least to find out what opportunities are there. And secondly, in the Minister for Industry, Kim Carr's area, a number of specific programs that are designed to improve the capacity of Australian companies to compete. So to improve their access to opportunities without giving them a free kick and without undermining competition.
LOUISE MAHER: But there won't be a blanket policy that says the Government has to buy Australian first?
LINDSAY TANNER: No, there won't be. And, in fact, research that my department's conducted shows that, actually, that would make relatively little difference, because about 70 per cent of what we buy in goods and services is Australian sourced already and most of the rest is stuff that isn't made in Australia, like photocopying machines or fighter jets. And, therefore, the proportion of what we buy that's actually a bit imported, a bit made in Australia is fairly small, and if we were to adopt a discriminatory policy, A, it wouldn't deliver much in the way of benefits, B, it would breach some significant trade treaties that we're a party to and, essentially, take us back to a more protectionist stance that would have retaliatory consequences from other countries.
LOUISE MAHER: Do you believe that you've now taken the sting out of this debate ahead of the ALP conference? Have you spoken to the unions about this? Are they going to be happy with this or are they still going to push you to go further, do you think?
LINDSAY TANNER: Oh look, not necessarily. I'd have to say the ACTU and the unions have been very constructive in this whole approach. We share a common objective. We have differing views on exactly how we should proceed to pursue that. But the discussions have been very amicable and constructive and we don't assume that even though there has been a positive response from the union movement, the initiatives we're committing to, that that's the end of the matter. We expect them to continue to press these things and there could well be still a significant debate at the conference.
LOUISE MAHER: With the establishment of what you're calling a procurement coordinator, how much of an increase do you think there will be as a result of this and the other initiatives you've talked about in the amount of Australian products and services that are bought by the Government?
LINDSAY TANNER: Well...
LOUISE MAHER: It's worth around, I'm told, about $24 billion a year at the moment government procurement. How much of that would be Australian? What sort of increase will there be?
LINDSAY TANNER: Well, at the moment, there's about $7 billion of imports and virtually all of that, of course, is goods. There's hardly yet - there's a tiny spend on imported services, but the overwhelming bulk is good. It's not easy to say how much of that might shift, and that's one of the difficulties in the debate. But I believe the answer is not a huge amount, but nonetheless, it's still significant if without creating artificial barriers to imports, without undermining genuine competition, without adding to the cost of what we pay for things which have to come from somewhere, if we can get outcomes that make it easier for Australian companies to compete on their merits, that will lead to more Australian products being purchased, and that'll be a good thing.
LOUISE MAHER: And will your campaign also involve ways of helping ordinary Australian consumers to know what's Australian and to buy more Australian, as well as the Government?
LINDSAY TANNER: Look, there are things of that kind already in place, but that, of course, involves matters that are outside my responsibilities and, in a sense, is a separate thing. But I do know that the Minister for Trade, Simon Crean, has - is very keen to just promote Australia and our products generally, both at home and abroad. I know, for example, that Martin Ferguson, Minister for Tourism, has been putting in a lot of work to ensure that our tourism industry prospers, both at home and abroad. So the - there's a variety of things that are in play here, and I'm sure that the Government will be committed to maximising good outcomes for Australian businesses.
LOUISE MAHER: Thank you very much for joining us this afternoon, Lindsay Tanner.
LINDSAY TANNER: Thank you very much, Louise.
LOUISE MAHER: Lindsay Tanner is the Minister for Finance and Deregulation, giving us some details there of the $19 million buy Australia program the Government has announced today getting in ahead of what was expected to be, and what might still be, quite an interesting discussion at the ALP national conference later this week.
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| Media Contact: | Website: |
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| Tim Naughtin - 0438 265 065 | www.financeminister.gov.au |
