Mr SLIPPER —My question is addressed to the Minister for Workplace Relations and Small Business. Minister, have you seen reports of plans by P&C Stevedores to expand its non-union docks venture to ports in Queensland and Western Australia within weeks? Would you advise the House if the actions of the government in reforming the waterfront are gaining support?

Mr REITH (Workplace Relations and Small Business) —I thank the member for Fisher for his question. There are reports today in the press that the PCS business is considering its possibilities and options of setting up business in Brisbane. I am delighted to advise the House that the Premier of Queensland, Mr Borbidge, has invited the PCS representatives to go to Queensland for discussions, and those discussions are going to be held this week.

There is no doubt that Brisbane port operations would be much more efficient from a stevedoring perspective if they could get some real competition into that port. The facts speak for themselves when it comes to efficiency levels in the port of Brisbane. I have here the crane rates from the port of Brisbane for the September quarter 1997, and those crane rates are 16.1. That is actually less than the five-port national average for Australia, which is 18.3, and Australia's average is well below an international comparative figure, which would at a reasonable level be about 25 crane lifts an hour. So the levels of inefficiency in Brisbane, unfortunately, are chronic. The numbers go back many years, and there is no question that it would be a big advantage to exporters in Queensland if they could get a more efficient system.

There was an international survey out not so long ago which compared 18 ports, including Australian and international ports on a comparative basis. When you look at Brisbane's results, on reliability it was 14 out of 18; on turnaround speed, it was 13 out of 18; and on a value for money criteria, it was 14 out of 18. Of course, the ports which were worse than Brisbane were other ports in Australia—Melbourne, Sydney and the like.

So if a great state like Queensland, which has a vibrant export industry, could have an efficient port operation in respect of stevedoring, a lot of jobs would be created in Queensland. That would generally be for the benefit of Queensland workers and it would boost export income for the country as a whole. If we can boost Australia's export income, then we can start to fix the debt which we were left with by the Labor Party, who are now opposing the very things that we have done that have actually made this a possibility.

The last thing I would say is that there is very widespread support for these reforms, not just from the initiative of the Queensland government. I thought the Business Council of Australia put it very well when they said last week:

In the view of the Council, comprehensive waterfront reform remained a major area of `unfinished business' on the national micro-economic reform agenda and, if tackled fundamentally, would flow on substantial benefits to the national economy and the community.

Those words are absolutely right and particularly important for Brisbane.