E&OE……………………………………………………………………………………
Well thank you Terry and Val, Sir Charles and Lady Court, my senate colleagues Alan Eggleston and Ross Lightfoot, Ray Halligan MLC, Kim Keogh the State President of the Liberal Party, Andre Shannon the Liberal candidate for Cowan, Louise Smith the Liberal candidate for Fremantle and David Johnston who’s also on the Liberal Party Senate ticket, and ladies and gentlemen. The story that Terry has just retailed to you and he’s told me about over a number of months is really quite an inspiring story of the fight back of Australian manufacturing industry. In many ways what has happened with this business and what it’s been able to achieve is a metaphor for the changed economic environment that this country has had over the last six years. Now you might expect that I would say that because that six year period coincides almost exactly with the period that the Government has been in office. But if you actually look at what has occurred it really is a very encouraging, indeed quite inspiring story.
All of the machinery that has just been shown to me, all of it has been manufactured in Australia. It was six years ago roughly speaking that the last manufacturer of these batteries closed shop in Australia and went offshore. And over the last six years the fight back represented by Ultimet and spearheaded by Terry and Val and their wonderful workforce, the fight back of this section of manufacturing industry here in Western Australia has been made possible by the right economic climate. And that’s why quite deliberately say it is a metaphor for what has happened because without the lower interest rates, without lower inflation, without what I choose to call very accurately a super competitive exchange rate, without better industrial relations laws it simply wouldn’t have been possible. And I don’t make any apology at all for linking the success of this enterprise with the better economic environment that we have seen over the last few years.
And when you add an encouraging economic environment to a talented entrepreneurial businessman and his wife working together as a great partnership you have the recipe for great economic success. And this is the kind of story that I would like widely known and understood, not only here in Western Australia but all around the country. What has been achieved here gives the lie to the charge so frequently and wrongly made that this country has a diminishing manufacturing capacity. The future of Australia is not based in any one sector of industry. We need the lot. And what is so interesting about this success story here in Perth is that it has occurred in a state whose contribution to the export earnings of this nation, and I’ve been frequently told by both Sir Charles and Richard that with 12 per cent of the population Western Australia contributes more than 25 per cent of Australia’s export income. And the good news is that with this enterprise that 25 per cent is on the rise and that 25 per cent in relation to this business is coming out of the manufacturing sector. It is not coming out of the primary industry sector, it’s not coming out of mining, it’s not coming out of farming, it’s coming out of manufacturing.
And I think it’s great because so many people identify the manufacturing of batteries with a traditional view of manufacturing in this country. And so often we are told that the future of this country lies exclusively with so called high-tech industries and information technology industries. Well what you see in there is the same as what I saw a few months ago when I went to the marvellous export facility of the Callis family where they’re delivering custom ordered TV meals for the Japanese market. What you see is a combination of a traditional skill with all of the add on value that the information technology and high technology brings. What these successful industries, be they in the so called traditional areas of manufacturing or in other areas or in the service sector demonstrate that there is no such thing as a new economy and an old economy. There’s only a successful economy and a successful economy marries the traditional capacity and skill, in the case of Ultimet a traditional manufacturing skill, with all of the modern high tech capacities and the machinery that I’ve just been shown represents a modern, sophisticated approach to a very traditional skill. And that really is the future of Australia. The future of Australia doesn’t lie in putting all of our eggs in one industry basket. It doesn’t just lie in mining, it doesn’t just lie in tourism, it doesn’t just lie in high tech, it lies in getting the best possible distillation of all the skills we have. And that of course includes superior workplace relations skills. You can’t have a successful business without a highly skilled workforce.
And one of the things of which I am immensely proud of what the government has been able to do over the last five and a half years is the way in which we have been able to double, dramatically change by more than doubling the number of apprenticeships and traineeships available. 70 per cent of young Australians who leave school do not go to university, they go onto some other kind of tertiary education and acquire some other tertiary qualification. And in the last five and a half years we have lifted the number of traineeships and apprenticeships from somewhere in the order of 135,000 to more than 310,000. And we have the highest number of not only young men and women, many people who are taking on mature aged traineeships and apprenticeships and there’s been a dramatic improvement and increase in the number of apprenticeships being taken on by women, indigenous people, and in other words there’s been an absolute explosion of apprenticeship opportunities under this government. And that’s all happened in the last five and a half years. We languished at 135 to 150,000 for almost 20 years and when we decided to reform the system it was all part of our more innovative flexible approach to industrial relations it’s made possible that expansion.
So today’s success story which this enterprise represents the restoration of a manufacturing capacity in this form of battery, absent from Australia for six years, a market of $300 million, a goal of perhaps $100 million of exports, that has been made possible by a number of things. It has been made possible by a far better economic environment, without question. It’s been made possible by very good workplace relations laws. It’s been made of course possible by Terry Jackson’s incredible drive and energy and enthusiasm. I’ve known Terry and his wife for a very long time and he is one of the most persistent entrepreneurial people I’ve met. He epitomises the investor. He epitomises the measures risk taker which you need in business. We will always need people who are willing to take risks and the important thing is that Terry’s a person who takes risks with his own resources and his own future, he doesn’t gamble others. What he does is he provides a future and he provides opportunity for other people. And I want to thank him for the contribution that he’s made to, particularly the economy of Western Australia. There’s something about Western Australian entrepreneurs, they’re a special breed, they bring particular characteristics to the totality of Australian business. And Terry has certainly been a wonderful example of that so I’m delighted to come here Terry and Val with Janette to mark this successful fight back by Australian manufacturing industry and it’s one of those great, good news stories that should resonate all around the country. It demonstrates that if you give Australians the right environment, the right incentive, the right opportunity they will achieve any thing. And it demonstrates that there’s no such thing as a past industry in this country if you’ve got the right combination of skills and the right people driving it from the top.
So not surprisingly given the event that is to take place on the 10 November I am talking to you this afternoon about the improved economic climate that we’ve had over the last five years. And this company, this success story, this enterprise is a metaphor for what better economic conditions combined with entrepreneurial flair can both achieve and deliver for this country. Congratulations to both of you for what you have achieved. You’ve been great Australian contributors and we’ve very proud of what you’ve done and thank you very warmly.
Thanks.
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