FIFTY-SEVEN countries, including Australia, have agreed to create the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank.

The Bank will enable member countries to work in partnership to provide funding for infrastructure projects that will be targeted to the least-developed countries in Asia, leading to economic growth.

The Articles of the Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank will be examined on Monday in Canberra.

Committee Chair, Mr Wyatt Roy MP, said that the current infrastructure gap in Asia is a significant impediment to economic development.

“By allowing countries to work together, and encouraging private sector investment, the Bank will be a major driver in improving infrastructure in Asia. However we want to ensure that Australia is able to have a voice in the Bank’s operations,” he said.

Australia will be the sixth largest shareholder in the Bank, with 3.7 per cent of the overall shares and will be able to appoint a Governor to the Board and vote to elect a Director.

Regional members will contribute 75 per cent of the shareholding, with non-regional members –including Germany, France and the United Kingdom – contributing the remaining 25 per cent. The Bank will be controlled by a Board of Governors and a Board of Directors.

The committee will also look at Australia’s proposed denunciation of the Convention on International Exhibitions. The Convention, originally signed in 1935, allowed for international exhibitions known as World Expos.

Despite paying annual membership fees, Australia has not hosted a World Expo. A themed special exhibition was held in Brisbane in 1988.

“If Australia wants to hold a world expo in the future, it can re-join. In the meantime, we may not be getting much benefit from ongoing membership,” Mr Roy said.

Public Hearing: Monday 14 September 2015,
Committee Room 2R1, Parliament House Canberra

11.45am Convention relating to International Exhibitions and Protocol of Signature
12.15pm Asian Infrastructure Investment Bank Articles of Agreement
1.00pm Close

The hearing will be broadcast through: www.aph.gov.au/live

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RECOMMENDATIONS to strengthen Victoria’s higher education sector by growing our share of the international education market, boosting innovation, increasing workforce productivity and enhancing student access and employability are among the findings of VECCI’s Higher Education Taskforce Report, released today.

VECCI Chief Executive Mark Stone said Victoria’s higher education sector, which includes universities and private providers, is diverse, competitive and internationally recognised as delivering high quality graduates and leading edge research. 

“The sector is crucial to building a highly skilled, adaptive and productive workforce, supporting the dissemination of innovation throughout industry and driving international trade. The challenge for policy makers, higher education providers and business is to build on these strengths,” said Mr Stone.

VECCI’s Higher Education Taskforce Report, Strengthening the competitiveness of Victoria’s higher education sector, makes a range of recommendations to support continuing growth. These include:

Strengthening Victoria’s position in the international education market

While our performance has been strong, there are several barriers that could see our reputation come under pressure as global competition in education services intensifies.   These barriers range from student transport costs, health cover costs, and student accommodation affordability and availability.  These issues need to be addressed in order to enhance positioning for inbound students. 

Recommendations:

• Encourage universities to develop streamlined systems to help students and graduates find employment and work based learning placements.
• Extend public transport concessions for international students to short term tickets across all fare zones in Victoria, providing the same discounts that apply to domestic students.
• Improve student accommodation across the state, facilitating affordable close to campus and on campus options.

Driving innovation by broadening and deepening university-industry research links

With global competition intensifying, research and development collaboration between Victoria’s higher education sector and industry is more important than ever.  

To remain competitive, small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) must acquire the knowledge and capabilities needed to continually adapt their business models, developing new markets and new applications for their products and services.  This means looking outside their boundaries for new ideas and expertise.

Recommendations:

• Encourage SMEs to partner with universities on research and development by reducing the company tax rate to 10 per cent on SME profits earned from their patents developed in Australia.
• Provide $50 million of seed funding and grants for universities and students to partner with industry to pay for patent costs, technology transfer operations and the set-up of spin-off companies.
• Undertake a feasibility study to extend physical and virtual technology enterprise zones and start-up hubs with incentives for universities and industry to co-invest in research infrastructure.

Increasing productivity and employability by more closely aligning graduate skills with employer needs

Because industry is constantly changing, so too are the skills and competencies required by employers.  While our education standards are already high, more needs to be done to ensure students not only possess relevant technical qualifications but appropriate job ready skills and work experience. 

Recommendations:

• Create an online portal to link higher education students to employers with information on available internships, post study placements, research and training projects.
• As part of student coursework, include an internship preparation unit which teaches students how to engage in a work environment and necessary ‘employability’ skills (teamwork, communication, lateral thinking, flexibility and resourcefulness).
• Aim for a 30 per cent increase in Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths (STEM) graduates over the next decade, recognising that a workforce with a strong STEM skills base is critical to business innovation. 

Enhancing student access, learning and employability

Students need to be confident that their studies will lead to employment outcomes.  While the higher education sector cannot guarantee employment for graduates, it should aspire to ensure students graduate possessing employability skills.  Further, because how and where students study is also changing, education providers and employers must embrace new learning models using technology to provide flexible and innovative learning on and off campus.

Recommendations:

• Provide free Wi-Fi on all metropolitan and regional public transport, assisting students to study while travelling.
• Introduce a competitively priced disposable Day Pass for all international and interstate students using public transport throughout Victoria.
• Strengthen the culture of entrepreneurship and innovation among students by establishing mentoring and microfinance programs.
• Support the development of regional and rural education models that attract and retain graduates in provincial Victoria.

“Ultimately, the objective of reforms must be to not only strengthen Victoria’s reputation as a market leader in the provision of higher education, but ensure education outcomes are more closely aligned to the needs of employers and students, now, and into the future,” said Mr Stone.

The Victorian Employers Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VECCI) is the most influential business organisation in Victoria, informing and servicing more than 15,000 members, customers and clients around the state.

vecci.org.au

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VECCI Chief Executive Mark Stone said the recurring stoppages in Melbourne’s train and tram system due to union industrial action continue to cause significant disruption to Victoria’s transport network.

"The delays and associated increased congestion cost Victorian business time and money through interruptions to workers commuting to their workplaces and moving around Melbourne, as well as to visitors and shoppers getting to their destinations," Mr Stone said.

"This is a disgraceful attempt at a cash grab by holding the travelling public and transport operators to ransom. Victorian public transport workers are well paid against any objective standard and our fear is that any increase in operating costs as a result of high salaries and overly generous conditions will ultimately be passed on to the public.

"Victorian business calls for a swift end to these disputes so there is no further disruption to the transport network and the people of Melbourne."

The Victorian Employers Chamber of Commerce and Industry (VECCI) is the most influential business organisation in Victoria, informing and servicing more than 15,000 members, customers and clients around the state.

vecci.org.au

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THE Opposition is failing working Australians and the wider community by continuing to oppose the China-Australia Fair Trade Agreement (ChAFTA), and should urgently commit to passing this vitally important deal for our national prosperity, says resource industry employer group AMMA (Australian Mines and Metals Association).

“Australia needs our political leaders to show our region and the world that we are a mature and capable country, able to seize trading opportunities and competitive advantages. For Labor, this is a real test of its maturity and claims to be an alternative government,” says AMMA CEO Steve Knott.

“Bill Shorten needs to distance himself and his party from the xenophobic China-baiting coming from sections of the union movement. He needs to demonstrate leadership and show Labor is capable of supporting jobs and living standards for all Australians.”

Mr Knott says the Opposition should listen to the Australian people, state and territory leaders, and respected Labor figures such as Bob Hawke, Bob Carr and Warren Mundine who overwhelmingly support the ChAFTA.

Under Keating, Labor spearheaded Australia’s engagement with Asia. Under Whitlam and Hawke, Labor had a proud record of tariff reform and leading global free trade. Kevin Rudd and Julia Gillard then delivered FTAs with Malaysia, New Zealand, Chile and ASEAN.

“For the first time in decades Labor is standing in the way of new trade opportunities for Australia, and risks being tarnished by the xenophobic campaign unions are waging against our biggest trading partner and the birth country of hundreds of thousands of Australians,” Mr Knott continues.

“Labor’s professed concerns on Labour Market Testing lack foundation.  Existing FTAs, including those negotiated under Rudd and Gillard, covered the same ground on working visas, with not a peep.

“Mr Shorten needs to push back against the CFMEU and show Labor will not be a party of Sinophobes – that it is capable of making decisions for the future of all Australians and is not a party beholden to xenophobic union bosses.

“If he fails to do so, intentionally or not he is helping unions flirt with racism and risks a preferential deal with the best possible trading partner for Australia.

“Australia will long rue the missed opportunity if the ChAFTA does not proceed and our competitors take up the opportunities we have worked towards for a decade. The responsibility for such a failure would lie squarely at the feet of the Labor Opposition.”

www.amma.org.au

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