Monday, 15 May 2023
The Shadow Minister for Trade and Tourism has today slammed the Albanese Labor Government for breaking its promises to Australian exporters by slashing funding to Austrade and the Export Market Development Grants program.
Tuesday’s 2023/24 Budget cut grant funding to the Export Market Development Grant (EMDG) Program by $61 million over 4 years and slashed Austrade’s budget by almost 18%.
“Labor promised at the last election that it would support Australian exporters to diversify into new markets,” Mr Hogan said.
“You don’t do that by slashing funding to the EMDG program that provides practical financial support and assistance to enable new and experienced exporters to grow their markets around the world.
“What’s worse, the Trade Minister gave no indication he would slash funding when he released a review of the program in February this year. That review found that the EMDG had a strongly positive impact on export performance of SME businesses.
Mr Hogan also called out the cuts to Austrade’s budget and staffing numbers contained in the 2023/24 Budget.
“The Albanese Labor Government has also gone after Austrade, Australia’s export and investment promotion agency with an almost 18% reduction in resourcing and a loss of 122 ASL jobs.
“This government wants to tout itself as pro-trade and pro-export but cuts to Austrade’s budget suggest that helping Australian exporters and supporting investment into Australia aren’t priorities for it.
“There is no transparency in the budget documents as to which jobs will go and which overseas posts will be closed as a result of the cuts. This creates uncertainty not only for Austrade staff but also for the many exporters who engage it to assist them in overseas markets.
“I am not sure what the Government has against Austrade. The trade heavy lifting is done by Australian businesses and this Government should not be cutting crucial funding to help them in this task.
“I will be pursuing answers from the Government through the upcoming Senate Estimates process. The Government had better be prepared to come clean with detail on the impact of the cuts, where the jobs will be lost and which export services will be affected.”
Ends
