Senator BUCKLAND (11:13 AM) —The Textile, Clothing and Footwear Strategic Investment Program Amendment Bill 2004 goes some way to assisting the textile, clothing and footwear industry. But we should not become complacent and think that this is all that is required to stabilise the whole industry or to protect workers in the industry. It is important to note that the leather and technical sector of the industry are the only beneficiaries of the bill. The whole of the industry remains in a precarious position in relation to its long-term future and, of course, it is an industry that offers only limited security for workers.

While in South Australia the industry is not a major employer of people—about 4,000 in total—it is important in that it adds to the diversity of job opportunities. The Productivity Commission and anecdotal accounts indicate that we have the available skills to become more competitive and to make a greater contribution to the overall state and national economies with very little notice should we be able to trigger an upturn in trade opportunities.

But the longer we go without addressing the problems facing the entire TCF industry the sooner we will lose the skill base. To address these problems we need to improve market access arrangements for TCF exporters, continue funding the strategic investment program for the sector and consider reversing the government's planned reductions. If we are serious about staying in this competitive industry, we need to resource an effective textile, clothing and footwear industry council to focus on jobs in the industry and on high-value exports. In government Labor would do these things.

Labor's position in relation to the textile, clothing and footwear industry is not a case of going back in time and it is not a matter of doing something for ideological reasons. It is a matter of doing something for sound policy reasons—good policy; policy aimed at encouraging greater innovation, exports and competitiveness. In government we would establish a review panel to get the policy and the industry right. The panel would include employer and employee representatives. That way everyone would get to have input. Labor used this method with the steel industry, under the Hawke government in 1983. Having been directly involved in that steel industry process, the framework of which is still in use today, we can be confident that the TCF industry would grow and thrive under Labor—grow and thrive with good policy.

This is in stark contrast to the Howard government's approach to the textile, clothing and footwear industry. The government abolished Labor's labour adjustment program in 1996 and it is important to consider the effects of that ill-conceived move. In South Australia alone we saw 1,015 jobs go between 1996 and 2001. That equates to a change in employment share of manufacturing jobs in the industry from 8.2 per cent to just 0.7 per cent—not a bad effort for a government that pretends to care about families and workers. So bad was this move that the government has now, somewhat belatedly, put up a `structural adjustment fund'—Labor's labour adjustment program in disguise.

This new LAP is worth $50 million over 10 years. That is simply not enough for an industry as important as the textile, clothing and footwear industry. Labor would have a proper LAP with an appropriate funding level, not one that is plucked out of the air. This LAP would not be means tested and it would aim to assist TCF workers to improve their English language and vocational skills, and to find new employment opportunities. I support the bill as a means of providing a degree of interim relief for the industry. I urge all senators to support Labor's second reading amendment.