Trade Is Easier Than Politics

The Daily Telegraph’s Bush Summit in Griffith last week included a panel discussion around facilitating export growth and trying to find answers to the question: what can we do to make it easier for Australian companies to sell to the world?

When it comes to exports for regional markets, the first challenge is getting the product to the port, according to the General Manager of Commercial and Business Development at NSW Ports, Campbell Mason.

“We’re very well connected in our port system,” Mr Mason said.

“We have the biggest port in the country.”

Mr Mason said they were still investing into a system that is already good, but a focus on the networks and positive projects that would expand capacity into the future was needed.

“There will be more acres under cultivation in the future, he said.

“Demand on rail will increase over time.”

Mr Mason mentioned that the rail line from Griffith to Stockinbingle had a weight level restriction, meaning that exporters from the region had to restrict their load to the lower weight level.

He said that the line across the Blue Mountains shared paths with passengers and, while there were a number of infrastructure projects with huge benefits in place to improve inland rail connectivity, it was important not to let rail freight be the poor relation to passenger rail.

“We just need to move from being on paper to being shovels in the ground,” Mr Mason said.

Rail infrastructure is the responsibility of State and Federal Governments.

Roger Fletcher, Founder of Fletcher International Exports said that trade was easier than politics, but we had to grow with it.

Export numbers are up in the mining game, according to CEO of NSW Minerals Council, Stephen Galilee.

“We’ve seen real growth,” he said.

“Probably the best two years in living memory.”

Mr Galilee said the NSW Minerals Council would see 15 new mines and 9000 new jobs happening over time.

He said that with the State unemployment rate sitting at 3 per cent, the skills shortage was a massive problem.

“We’re competing with a lot of other sectors for those jobs,” Mr Galilee said.

“That probably will change over time.

“The challenge will be to make sure they have those opportunities in the future.”

Mr Galilee said he’d like to see some Visas approved to help address the skills shortage, and to send the right signals internationally that NSW and Australia are good places to invest.

Winemaker and Managing Director of Calabria Family Wines, Bill Calabria agreed that it was important to promote Australia internationally, especially now that we can no longer rely on the Chinese market.

“The biggest challenge for the wine industry is that we relied heavily on the Chinese market and, as you know, the Government put a stop to that and it’s affected a lot of growers,” Mr Calabria said.

“It’s affected wineries and to replace the amount of wine that they were buying, which was over a billion dollars, there's no market out there that’s as big as what that was.”

Mr Calabria said that it was important not to rely on one sole customer.

He also said that our destination made it difficult to compete with the rest o

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