Senator PATTERSON(12.44 p.m) —I rise to speak today in the matters of public interest debate about a $30 billion market. Each year the United Nations and multilateral development banks outlay $30 billion, creating new total investments of around $65 billion in recipient countries. Australian companies are getting some of this, but there is no reason why we should not be getting a lot more of it.

During my upcoming visit to the United Nations General Assembly as a parliamentary adviser, one of the things I will be looking at is how Australia and Australian businesses can more effectively tap into this market.

Senator Schacht —Are you on a junket, are you? Three months—three months, Senator. How did you get it?

Senator PATTERSON —The politics of greed, Senator Schacht. The activities of the UN and its associate organisations represent very significant opportunities for internationally competitive firms. Each year, UN agencies contract out activities worth about $3.7 billion. I was amazed at the extent of this business when I started reading, researching and preparing for the trip. In the back of my mind I kept thinking of the potential opportunities for businesses in my own state of Victoria and for Australian businesses in general.

When one reads through the general business guide for potential suppliers of goods and services to the United Nations it is staggering to read the vast and varied opportunities that are available for supplying UN agencies. They purchase such things as food, drugs, medical equipment, vaccines, vehicles, communication and industrial equipment, tents, Tilley lamps, hoists, computer, software and sea and air fright. If you think of a peacekeeping force, there are many things that would be required from enamel plates and cups and saucers to a mass of other items. All of these are areas in which Australian companies already work and produce and areas in which we compete well.

In 1995, Australian companies won $33.7 million worth of business in UN contracts. This was a big increase compared to the $18.9 million secured in 1994. This increase really demonstrates the potential market that is waiting to be seized upon by Australian companies. It is also a testament to the increasing competitiveness of Australian companies. While I say this, there is of course scope for an improvement in these results. There is still room for many more Australian companies to become involved.

In 1995, the value of procurement business won by Australian firms overall also increased significantly, although it must be noted that fluctuations occur from year to year. Not only was there an increase in UN contracts awarded to Australian firms, there was also an increase in World Bank disbursements to Australian companies totalling $US242 million in 1994-95 compared with $US139 million in 1993-94. Australian companies won contracts funded by Asian development banks totalling $US142.5 million in 1995. That compared with $US42 million in 1994. Figures do fluctuate from year to year, however they show the magnitude and the great potential for Australian businesses.

When one analyses these multicultural procurement results, it highlights the worldwide spread of Australian companies. Australian firms are looking beyond the immediate Asia-Pacific region or traditional markets for procurement opportunities. This is of specific significance in regions such as Africa, Latin America, Eastern Europe, Central Asia and the Middle East. While these results are encouraging for Australia and Australian firms, we need to work hard to maintain and improve them.

While I have been concentrating on the positive figures and aspects, I cannot stress enough the importance of improving Australia's involvement. Close analysis of the figures contained in the trade and outcomes objective statement, tabled in parliament earlier this year, indicates—for example, in relation to multicultural development banks such as the World Bank and the Asian Development Bank—that a large proportion of the procurement business reflected only a few large commodity contracts. So even though the figures were higher it was due to a couple of large commodity contracts.

While we are doing better and doing well we must maintain these figures and do better. In relation to procurement businesses, the figures in the outcomes and objectives statement show that Australia's share of procurement contracts falls behind many other countries. In 1995, Australia's share of procurement while an improvement at $US33.7 million was still around 0.8 per cent of total UN procurement contracts worth $US3.7 billion. This means that we were 20th behind other countries such as the Ukraine, Panama and the Netherlands. The top six are the US with 17.83 per cent, Italy, Croatia, the UK, France and Germany.

As Australia contributes nearly 1.5 per cent of the UN's regular budget on time, the government would like to see Australia's percentage of UN business continue to im prove significantly. Based on these figures, when we compared them to other countries, it seems very clear that there is plenty of room to raise Australia's profile amongst UN agencies as a supplier of quality goods and services.

In light of the results I have just mentioned, the government is working hard to improve these figures and develop its trade and multilateral procurement strategy designed to help Australian companies do just that. The trade outcomes and objectives statement, which I mentioned, outlines the government's strategy. This statement for the first time sets out benchmarks of our performance on trade policy. It met a pre-election commitment and is an important part of the coalition government's strategy to strengthen trade and foreign investment performance and to bring benefits to businesses and to the Australian community.

Our capacity to create new jobs and our ability to raise the living standards of all Australians depends on increasing our national wealth through trade. For example, between the September quarter 1995 and the September quarter 1996, Australia's GDP rose by 3.8 per cent in real terms. About one-quarter of this increase was provided by the growth in net exports of goods and services. Increased trade is necessary to help sustain GDP and, very importantly, as it is an issue which concerns all Australians, jobs growth.

As part of the government's trade strategy, detailed in the outcomes and objectives statement, the minister set out the high priority which the government places on our efforts to assist Australian companies in winning contracts let by UN agencies. The strategy comprises two main elements. The first, Austrade and the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade are active domestically in encouraging Australian companies to take up multilateral procurement opportunities. Austrade's export hotline is a valuable source of information. If you are making wheelbarrows in Ballarat or hoists in Bendigo, how do you know that the UN buys those sorts of things. That is the sort of information we have got to get across.

In March last year the government established the Multilateral Procurement Unit within the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. This unit reinforces the government's efforts to develop and implement its multilateral procurement strategy. The unit has engaged relevant state business bodies and produced a number of publications outlining how to go about taking advantage of multilateral procurement opportunities. The second strategy involves overseas staff from both agencies assisting in the essential task of collecting early information about project opportunities. These staff in our various Foreign Affairs and Trade missions around the world also work to establish close links with procurement officials in UN agencies and with executing agencies in borrower countries for bank financed projects.

While I am attending the United Nations General Assembly I will be meeting with the Australian staff involved in this strategy to see what is being done and to learn more about how Australian companies can get a bigger slice of the UN market, so that I can be of as much assistance as possible to Australian firms when I return to Australia.

I have already had extensive contact with the Committee for Melbourne. I think this is a good news story that ought to be told. The Committee for Melbourne, which was established to promote business and business opportunities in Victoria, identified the fact that Australia is not as involved in UN procurement as it possibly could be. It identified the firms in Victoria which sell products—

Senator Schacht —Don't forget that you represent all of Australia while you are there, Kay. You're also representing Australia over there.

Senator PATTERSON —I am also a Victorian senator, Senator Schacht. I do not need your gratuitous advice. I am sure I will do it much better than you ever could.

Because the Committee for Melbourne is committed—as are we on this side of the chamber—to jobs growth, it decided that we should be getting more of that action. The committee identified a number of firms—I think it is over 200—that sell the sorts of things the United Nations buys. The commit tee invited the businesses and procurement officers from the United Nations to a seminar so that the procurement officers could tell those businesses how they could get into the loop: how they could put in tenders, how they should put in their tenders and when the UN advertises. That was incredibly creative.

Do you know what we found out after 13 years of Labor? The Committee for Melbourne asked the UN procurement officers, `Do you have a conference every year?' They said, `Yes, we do: the World Health Organisation, UNICEF.' `Where do you have them?' `All around the world—wherever we're invited.' `Have you ever been invited to Australia?' `No, we've never been invited to Australia.' So the Committee for Melbourne invited the UN procurement officers to come to Australia to give Australian firms the opportunity to find out about the sorts of things that the United Nations buys.

That is the sort of pro-active creative project which will make sure that we increase employment opportunities in Australia. It will give small businesses which might not otherwise get into the loop—the company that is making wheelbarrows in Victoria, the company that is making freeze dried food in Tasmania—an opportunity to find out how they can get into the system and become part of this worldwide procurement process.

The Committee for Melbourne and other Australian corporations, with the support of the Minister for Trade (Mr Tim Fischer) and his department, were successful in securing for Melbourne the United Nations Inter-Agency Procurement Group Meeting. This meeting will be held in Melbourne in 1999. It will be the first time this meeting has been held in Australia. I congratulate Minister Fischer and his officers and also the Committee for Melbourne for this achievement. Holding the meeting in Australia will be invaluable in promoting Australia and Australian businesses. It will build on the momentum which has already been generated through promoting Australia's involvement in UN business.

I hope while I am at the UN to meet with procurement officers from both Washington and New York in order to make myself known as a conduit and a liaison point so that when they come to the conference in 1999 there will be somebody that they know.

There is a growing awareness among firms of the extent of the business and activities of the United Nations. It is vital that Australian businesses maximise future opportunities in the UN system. It is obvious that UN agencies are keen to diversify their sources of supply. Australian products and services are of world-class standard. It is important that we show the UN this. It is also important that Australian companies increasingly develop links with the UN and its agencies. To do this and win contracts, our companies will have to be well informed and pro-active.

UN officers have indicated that there does not appear to be a high level of awareness among Australian firms of the procurement procedures followed by UN agencies. Also, many companies are not responding to invitations to bid. By doing so they run the risk of not being asked to bid again. Companies also need to ensure that they complete their tender documents thoroughly and meet tender deadlines so that they are not disqualified at an early stage. These might sound simple matters, but they are matters that businesses must get right if Australian firms are to successfully compete for business.

While I am at the UN I will endeavour to find out all I can about this process so that I can pass the information on to businesses in my state and in other states—as I have already done, Senator Schacht, by alerting former Senator Bronwyn Bishop to the issues that might be able to be addressed through her portfolio. I cannot stress enough to businesses in Australia that I will do the same thing for them; I will not just promote businesses in Victoria. Although involvement in multilateral procurement can mean long lead times and substantial financial commitments for Australian businesses, the rewards are potentially great.

The UN and the multilateral development banks are some of the world's biggest customers. Australian companies cannot ignore this fact. With the involvement and strategy of the Australian federal government and the support of Australian businesses and organisa tions like the Committee for Melbourne, I am sure that our share of UN contracts in multilateral procurement can be increased, and that it can also contribute to jobs growth.