Mrs ANDREWS (McPherson) (20:33): I rise today to speak on the motion put forward by the member for Throsby and to speak specifically on the need to develop and maintain a diverse economy and to support local manufacturers. For many years now the Gold Coast economy has been very dependent on tourism and construction, as these industries have been our strongest and most prosperous. However, in recent years, there has been a downturn in both sectors, resulting in higher than average unemployment levels, particularly on the southern Gold Coast. The Gold Coast is well placed though to diversify and broaden its economic base, particularly in manufacturing. It is fair to say that manufacturers throughout Australia are doing it tough now and have for some time. More than 136,000 manufacturing jobs have been lost over the last 3½ years. This downward trend needs to be stopped and preferably reversed so that we are creating manufacturing jobs. I recently held a manufacturing roundtable with the member for Indi and a number of manufacturers from the southern Gold Coast. Many of these businesses are facing an uncertain time due to various factors, including the high Australian dollar and reduced spending patterns as Australians continue to tighten their belts. Many are also struggling to find the skilled workers needed to produce high-quality products. I believe that one of the issues that we must address is the way that trade training, in particular, is undertaken in Australia at this point in time. We know that there is a relatively low completion rate for apprenticeships, with the national completion rate of approximately 55 per cent when factors such as the apprentice changing their employer are taken into account. On the southern Gold Coast we have the Australian Industry Trade College, the AITC, which is dedicated to preparing year 11 and 12 students for a career in industry. The college has been successful in achieving over 530 school based apprenticeships in over 50 different trade qualifications. The unique program and flexible learning pathway provided by the AITC allow students to graduate with a Queensland Certificate of Education as well as significant work experience, knowledge and skills in their chosen field. Currently, there are around 300 students enrolled at the college and half of these students will be on campus at any one time attending classes in a custom-designed curriculum that includes English communication, mathematics A—or prevocational maths—business, information technology and physical wellness. All students must also engage in community service. Other fields of study include a certificate III Australian school based apprenticeship, delivered offsite at a registered training organisation. The work experience component is run consecutively, and students swap from their classroom to the workplace every four weeks, alternating as two groups. At the AITC, students are assigned case managers to offer advice and support during the two years that they are enrolled at the college. Through this customised learning approach and support structure, students have the confidence and skill sets to succeed in the workforce as apprentices and trainees. The AITC completion rate for apprenticeships is about 68 per cent, which in turn is about 13 per cent above the national average. A recent Deloitte Access Economics study found that skill shortages were jeopardising $254 billion worth of mining projects in the planning pipeline. It identified five key trade qualifications—electricians, drillers, production technicians, mechanical fitters and boilermakers—as the most severe skill shortage areas. Three of those trades—electricians, mechanical fitters and boilermakers—are also key to the manufacturing sector. An appropriate trade trading program needs to be implemented. As I said earlier, the Gold Coast is well placed to further develop its manufacturing base, which I believe is already diverse. To demonstrate this point, I would like to speak about three of our local manufacturing sectors and some of the barriers to their productivity and success that the government should be addressing. Let me start with engineering and speak about one of our local manufacturers, the Rockcrush Group, one of the top engineering manufacturing groups in Australia, with over 100 years combined experience. They are located in Burleigh Heads, in one of the industrial estates in McPherson, and their core business includes the manufacture of marine winches, mining winches, general winches and also dredges. Rockcrush pride themselves on the export of these dredges, which are designed to be used in a variety of industry applications around the world. Because of its unique market position, Rockcrush is in the enviable position of being able to expand its operations and increase the number of boilermakers it employs. However, there have been issues in finding skilled and experienced boilermakers on the Gold Coast, as many are now attempting to seek employment in regions with major manufacturing industries. Rockcrush will also be affected by the proposed carbon tax and may well be forced to move some of its manufacturing base from Australia to an offshore location. Clearly, if this were to happen, there would be an immediate impact on jobs as well as a loss of local expertise in this specialised area. I have spoken in this place on a number of occasions about the surfboard manufacturing industry. I wish to again highlight the importance it plays in my electorate. Industry leaders have advised me that the following issues have impacted on them: firstly, the high Australian dollar and increased competition from overseas manufacturers; secondly, cheap, imported boards that are not appropriately labelled so that it is clear to Australian surfers that they are buying a board that was manufactured overseas and not from an Australian shaper; thirdly, keen surfers, who would normally change their boards every six months, are holding onto them for perhaps two years because the rising cost of living has left them with little or no discretionary spending ability; and, fourthly, skilled labour shortages. There is currently no formal traineeship or apprenticeship for surfcraft manufacturing, and this needs to be addressed as a priority. The third sector I would like to speak about tonight is the textile, clothing and footwear sector. One of the nation's largest listed apparel companies, Billabong, is based in my electorate of McPherson. It employs over 2,000 people locally as part of an international workforce of 8,000. There are also a number of smaller TCF businesses on the southern Gold Coast. We are all well aware in this place that TCF industries have struggled to remain internationally competitive for some time and that the sector has undergone significant changes over recent years. Having been involved in that sector myself over a number of years, I was very interested to read about the Textile, Clothing and Footwear Strategic Capability Program. According to the application form: The Textile, Clothing and Footwear Strategic Capability Program is a competitive, merit based grants program. It funds strategic projects that increase innovation across Textile, Clothing and Footwear industries … That certainly sounds very positive. It then goes on to say: Confirming your eligibility first can save you a lot of time and effort. That prompted me to look at what the eligibility requirements are. One of those requirements, amongst others, is that: … the entity (if a clothing manufacturer) is accredited in accordance with the Homeworkers' Code of Practice or is seeking accreditation … A quick call to AusIndustry confirmed that, yes, indeed, a clothing manufacturer had to be accredited or be seeking accreditation through Ethical Clothing Australia to be eligible for the TCF Strategic Capability Program. There are various fees that are applicable for accreditation, based on a number of factors. The Ethical Clothing Australia website indicates that it can cost up to $6,000 for that accreditation. Businesses that are not accredited or seeking accreditation are not eligible to be considered for funding. There is no opportunity for the manufacturer to demonstrate compliance or adherence to the code. This criteria also completely dismisses membership of independent global ethical standards bodies and compliance with relevant international standards. In addition, some clothing manufacturers do not engage home workers. It is nonsensical for such manufacturers to have to be accredited or seeking accreditation for a code of conduct that applies to workers that they do not have. There is a future for the manufacturing industry in Australia and on the southern Gold Coast, but this potential future is in jeopardy due to the actions being taken by this government. There is the capacity to increase manufacturing and workforce participation in this area, with a number of industrial estates in McPherson already available. However, if the Gold Coast and Australian manufacturing industries are allowed to continue to shrink by the Labor government, this opportunity to diversify the local and national economy will pass long before any benefits can be harnessed.