THE Parliament’s Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Committee will hear this today from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade and Austrade at a public hearing for its inquiry into activating trade and investment between Australia and Pacific island countries.

Chair of the Committee’s Trade Sub-Committee, John McVeigh MP, said the hearing will focus in part on the economic flow-on effects for Australia’s cadre of seasonal workers.

"More than 12,000 seasonal workers came from the Pacific island countries in 2018-19 to work on Australia’s farms, in our orchards and in other sectors," Dr McVeigh said.

"The World Bank tells us these workers sent an average of $9,000 each home in 2018, resulting in a net income gain of $144 million to the Pacific region. This income was especially concentrated in high participant countries such as Fiji, Kiribati and Vanuatu.’

The sub-committee wants to better understand how the Australia Government and its agencies are seeking to activate greater trade and investment opportunities with the Pacific region.

"The sub-committee will explore some issues related to the popular Seasonal Worker Programme and the more recent Pacific Labour Scheme have been raised in submissions to the inquiry and also in an earlier hearing, but also investigate what is being done to encourage more investment and trade in goods and services between Australia and the Pacific island countries," Dr McVeigh said.

The sub-committee will also investigate the latest developments and implementation of a new development-centred trade agreement, the Pacific Agreement on Closer Economic Relations Plus (PACER Plus), with 13 other members of Pacific Islands Forum.

"We’re keen to explore how PACER Plus will help Pacific island countries benefit from the regional trading system, develop economies and encourage Australian and islander businesses to grow two way trade in goods and services," Dr McVeigh said.

Public hearing details:

Date: Thursday 27 February 2020
Time: 9:45am to 11:15am
Location: Committee Room IR4, Parliament House, Canberra.

The hearing will be audio streamed live at aph.gov.au/live.

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LAST YEAR was the weakest for engineering construction activity since 2007, according to Master Builders chief economist Shane Garrett. 

ABS data out releaed yesterday indicated that the volume of engineering construction work done during 2019 dropped by 11.8 percent compared with the previous year to record its lowest calendar year total since 2007.

“Master Builders latest forecasts predict a substantial upswing in the volume of engineering construction work particularly on transport infrastructure in the next 12 months," Mr Garrett said. "But this is contingent on state and territory governments working with the Federal Government to push shovel ready projects out the door.

“This is a call that Master Builders has reinforced in our Pre-Budget Submission,” Mr Garrett said.

“The weak construction results come on the same day that the updated Infrastructure Priority List was published by Infrastructure Australia.

“This year’s Infrastructure Priority List is the largest ever and identifies 147 specific projects which would assist in meeting Australia’s future infrastructure needs. Of these, 42 are considered high priority projects,” Mr Garrett said.

“The new Priority List has added 37 new proposals compared with last year’s list, which call for action on transport, education, telecommunications, water and flood defences.

“With 2019 representing a particularly weak year for engineering construction, today’s Infrastructure Priority List is a timely reminder that there is no shortage of crucial projects that we could be getting on with to ensure that living standards are preserved over the years ahead.

“While engineering construction had a glum 2019, the same cannot be said about commercial building activity which hit a new record high last year. Residential building finished 8.1 percent lower during 2019,” he said.

“The newly released set of Master Builders Australia forecasts to 2024/25 envisage that a recovery in new home building activity is not too far off and that new dwelling starts will again top 200,000 by the middle of the decade.

“With our population set to hit the 30 million milestone by the year 2030, meeting our future building and infrastructure needs will be a huge challenge,” Mr Garrett said.

During 2019, Tasmania was the only state to see an increase in the volume of engineering construction work done (+7.4%). 

The largest reduction in engineering construction work during 2019 was in the Northern Territory (-65.2%) followed by the ACT (-28.7%), Western Australia (-16.8%) and Queensland (-13.3%).

There were also reductions in the volume of engineering construction work done in New South Wales (-4.0%), Victoria (-8.1%) and South Australia (-4.5%).

www.masterbuilders.com.au

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THE Australian Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Kate Carnell has welcomed Federal Government legislation that encourages employers to catch-up on paying superannuation entitlements to staff.

“This is a one-off amnesty that gives small business an opportunity to get up to date with outstanding payments to current and past employees, without being slugged with the harsh penalties that usually apply,” Ms Carnell said.

“However it is vital that small businesses understand that although they will have a short window of time to declare any errors to the Australian Taxation Office, the amnesty only applies to missed superannuation payments up to 31 March 2018.

“Small businesses should speak to their trusted financial advisers now to get their affairs in order.

“To qualify for the amnesty, employers have to come forward voluntarily, without direct prompting from the ATO, and pay all employee entitlements plus interest," Ms Carnell said.

“Most small businesses do the right thing in this area, with 95 percent already complying. The amnesty will give small businesses a further six months to ensure they are compliant.

“All Australian workers deserve to be paid the entitlements they are owed. The ATO has access to company data through Single Touch Payroll, so it’s easy for them to find out if a small business has late or unpaid superannuation.

“Small businesses should act now to take advantage of the amnesty or face significantly higher penalties if found to be non-compliant.”

www.asbfeo.gov.au

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THE Indigenous Affairs Committee will hear from different Indigenous-owned consulting firms on Thursday as part of its inquiry into pathways and participation opportunities for Indigenous Australians in employment and business.

Committee chair Julian Leeser MP said there is now is a huge variety of businesses that are owned and operated by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people.

"This hearing is an opportunity for the committee to listen to Indigenous business owners and understand more about what they are seeing in the sector, what opportunities exist and also identify the barriers preventing more Indigenous people obtaining jobs and starting their own businesses," Mr Lesser said.

The committee will hear from Indigenous-owned enterprises that provide professional IT and other business services.

"The perspectives of these businesses in the professional marketplace will be an important contribution to the inquiry," Mr Leeser said.

Public hearing details

Date: Thursday 27 February 2020
Time: 11.40am to 12.30pm
Location: Committee Room 1R3, Parliament House, Canberra

A full program will be available at the inquiry website.

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