Mr CREAN(5.19 p.m.) —The opposition believes that amendments Nos 3, 4 and 5 should definitely be agreed to. I indicated a bit earlier that this government abolished four bounties. Through pressure from the Labor Party, we have succeeded in getting two restored and the books bounty, which we are now discussing, being partially restored.

In August of last year the government announced that it would knock off the books bounty in June of this year. Again under pressure from Labor we got an extension of that decision by six months. We have just heard the Minister for Small Business and Consumer Affairs (Mr Prosser) say that that was done in recognition of contracts already in place.

The real problem is that the book and book publishing industry expected this bounty to continue until the end of 1997. It was told as much during the election campaign when this government was out there campaigning. It had contracts entered on the basis of that full extension. So, if the argument is right that the government has extended it by six months, why not extend it to 12 months, in accordance with the Senate proposition and with your promise in the last election campaign, which interestingly enough happened to be the recommendation from the Industry Commission for the book publishing industry?

This is a government which commissions reports from the Productivity Commission and the Industry Commission, and ignores them. We know it ignored the recommendations in the case of the car industry. It had to roll over and accept Labor's plan, against the Productivity Commission's recommendations. Here you had a specific recommendation from the Industry Commission not to cut anything, but to keep it until the end of 1997—and you ignored it.

We are not pleading for a special handout for this industry. We are just telling the government that it needs to have regard to what its competitors do. For example, New Zealand has a 50 per cent subsidy on production costs of certain books. New Zealand is the sort of economic model that it suits the government to hold up from time to time. It is supporting its book publishing industry. Singapore is another country that we often have quoted to us. It is one of the Asian tigers. It has tax breaks and incentives specifically to support its book publishing industry. So ours is an industry that is not playing on a level field.

We are saying that it is important to enable this industry to continue to compete until those countries reduce their levels of protection. Again, we are talking about a minimal level of support versus huge levels of support. This is an industry which, in Australia, can continue to operate, function and compete with the level of assistance provided by the book bounty but not with it being cut from underneath it.

Again, it is important to understand the impact of this industry on the nation. It is estimated that 2,600 jobs will be lost in the printing and publishing industry if the book publishing bounty goes. We have already seen some of those jobs lost in Adelaide, where, with the announcement in last year's budget that the bounty was gone, Griffin Press laid off 140 workers. What they are looking for is the restoration of it.

Another area which is terribly important—and I know the member for Corio (Mr O'Connor) will want to speak about this—is the impact in regional areas. Maryborough in Victoria employs 2,600 people. One quarter of them work in the book publishing industry. Of the work force of Maryborough, 25 per cent is in jeopardy because of this government's decision. We know that, because we visit these areas. We talk to the workers and the managers of these places. We get to understand what is important to them. But where are the member for Bendigo (Mr Reid) and the member for Ballarat (Mr Ronaldson)? They are both coalition members, but they have gone missing on this issue. Why will they not stand up for their constituents? It is only Labor that is prepared to stand up for them, and Labor will persist with its efforts—including engaging the Senate—to get this decision restored to where it should be. We have gained six months. There are only six months more to go, but we will pursue it. (Time expired)