1.3.1 PARLIAMENT IN AUSTRALIA
1.3.2 SERVICES TO ATTACHED AGENCIES
1.3.3 SERVICES TO BUSINESS
1.3.4 SERVICES TO STATE GOVERNMENTS AND OTHER AGENCIES OVERSEAS AND IN AUSTRALIA
Overview
Much of the department's work in providing whole-of-government services to the Government and the Australian community is directed towards protecting and advancing Australia's national interests as reported in output 1.1. Our work on behalf of Commonwealth parliamentarians, state and territory governments, business and other agencies frequently involves the same approach and includes:
- assistance with the development of international visit programs and other logistical help overseas
- provision of administrative services to agencies attached to the department's overseas missions, including communications, office support and property management
- provision of tactical advice and analysis to Australian business and representations made to foreign governments on their behalf
- provision of statistical and other factual information about aspects of Australia's relationship with international organisations and foreign countries or about those organisations and countries themselves.
Parliament in Australia
The department helped arrange 110 overseas visits for individual Members of Parliament and Senators and for parliamentary delegations. These overseas visits played an important role in establishing and strengthening links between the Australian Parliament and parliaments of other countries. The visits provided opportunities for study and observation of developments in a wide variety of fields relevant to the Australian community.
Our role included giving suggestions and guidance on in-country travel; identifying and making appointments with key people in specific fields of interest; and providing written and oral background briefings on foreign and trade policy matters related to the visits.
Members and Senators have on several occasions commended the department, in Parliament, for the support provided for their visits.
The department helped with 23 visits to Australia by presiding officers, committees and delegations from parliaments of other countries. We provided written briefs and talking points for the presiding officers and members of the Australian Parliament in their meetings with visiting parliamentarians.
Our work for the Parliament included assisting:
- parliamentary delegation visits to Asia, including visits to East Timor in September 2003, Sri Lanka in October 2003, Thailand, Cambodia and Vietnam in November 2003, Japan, Korea and Indonesia in December 2003 and China in June and July 2004
- parliamentary delegation visits to Europe, including visits to Latvia in September 2003, European institutions and France in April and May 2004 and the Ukraine and Bulgaria in June and July 2004
- parliamentary delegation visits to the Pacific, including Fiji, Samoa, New Caledonia and Vanuatu in November 2003, and Papua New Guinea and Solomon Islands in December 2003
- parliamentary delegations attending Inter-Parliamentary Union meetings in Switzerland in September 2003 and Mexico in April 2004, the United Nations General Assembly in the United States (New York) in September 2003, the World Trade Organization Ministerial Conference in Mexico in September 2003, a Commonwealth Parliamentary Association conference in Bangladesh in October 2003 and the Asia–Pacific Parliamentary Forum in China in January 2004
- visits to the Gulf States by the Trade Sub-Committee of the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade (JSCFADT) in April 2004 and by the Joint Standing Committee on Foreign Affairs, Defence and Trade Foreign Affairs Sub-Committee to Indonesia in February 2004
- a total of 78 visits by individual parliamentarians to Europe, the Americas, Asia, Africa and the Middle East.
The department coordinated, on a whole-of-government basis, briefing on treaties and treaty action prepared for the Joint Standing Committee on Treaties. We made submissions and gave evidence to a range of parliamentary committees. Interactions are detailed in Appendix 6.
The department also provided 19 written and oral briefings on foreign and trade policy issues of specific interest in response to requests from individual Members and Senators.
Services to attached agencies
The department provided management services, on a user-pays basis, to 21 Australian government agencies overseas under the Service Level Agreement (SLA). These included management services, financial services, office services and property services for both Australia-based employees and locally engaged staff. The current SLA, introduced in 2001, facilitates the efficient administration of Australian government business overseas while avoiding operational and financial duplication. Under a separate arrangement, Austrade posts have the option of receiving either the full range of management services or essential services only.
The department revised the SLA during the year, in consultation with other agencies. The revised arrangement aims to:
- increase the transparency of the fee structure
- provide more clearly defined services and performance indicators.
The department proposes that communication services will be covered under a separate MOU with attached agencies. The revised SLA is intended to take effect early in 2004–05. Arrangements are in place for an extension of the current agreement until then. Feedback from our SLA clients has been positive, with current signatories actively engaged in finalising the new agreement.
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 Parliamentary Secretary to the Minister for Trade, Mrs De-Anne Kelly, and the President and CEO of Toyota Motor Corporation of Australia, Mr Ted Okada, celebrate the two-millionth motor vehicle manufactured at Toyota’s Altona plant in Victoria in April 2004. Photo: Courtesy of Toyota Motor Corporation Australia Limited |
 Enlarge image ::  Photo gallery |
Services to business
The department consulted closely with members of the public and the Australian business community on trade-related matters. We sought public submissions on the negotiations for an Australia–United States Free Trade Agreement (AUSFTA) and set up a telephone hotline for enquiries and comments.
The Government received some 200 submissions in relation to the negotiation of the AUSFTA, including 69 from industry and professional bodies and companies, 32 from NGOs and 8 from trade unions. These submissions helped to inform the development of the Government's negotiating objectives. In particular, the Government's negotiating objectives took into account concerns expressed in relation to potential negative effects or risks of agreeing in the negotiations to changes to specific domestic policy programs or settings.
From 9 February to end June 2004, the department received nearly 3000 telephone calls on its AUSFTA hotline. Callers asked questions on a wide range of issues, with the most common requests being for greater detail on individual areas of the Agreement, information on the approval process and for copies of the text.
The department supported a range of formal consultative mechanisms designed to ensure Mr Vaile received expert trade policy advice from the business community. These important consultative mechanisms provided forums for consultation, coordination and collaboration on trade and investment issues between the Government, business and the community. These mechanisms included:
- the Trade Policy Advisory Council, comprising representatives from the business community
- the World Trade Organization (WTO) Advisory Group, which represents a cross-section of industry, non-government organisations, trade unions and academic interests
- the Agricultural Trade Consultative Group, involving senior representatives from major agricultural industry organisations.
The department also undertook a range of informal consultations with representatives of specific industry sectors on developments and Australian negotiating positions in the Doha Round, bilateral FTA negotiations and WTO disputes. We supported a range of senior business representatives who accompanied Mr Vaile to the WTO Ministerial Conference in Cancún, particularly from the rural sector given the importance of agriculture in the negotiations. Some members of the WTO Advisory Group, representing the interests of the wider business community, also attended.
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 Australian Ambassador to Jordan, John Tilemann, and Royal Jordanian Air Force test pilot, Captain Mowfaq Khlaileh, stand in front of the ‘Spirit of Hervey Bay,’ the first Seabird Seeker to fly in Jordan. The light surveillance aircraft will be produced in Jordan under a joint venture between Queensland company Seabird Aviation and the King Abdullah Design and Development Bureau (KADDB) entered into in September 2003. |
| Enlarge image :: Photo gallery |
Market information and analysis
The department continued to offer a consultancy service providing statistical information and advice, on a fee-for-service basis, for Australian businesses and researchers interested in overseas markets. The service specialises in trade and economic data, covering Australia's trading and business relationships with over 220 countries and information about the international trade of over 100 countries accounting for around 90 per cent of total world trade.
APEC
The department continued to deliver benefits to the business community through our involvement with APEC (see sub-output 1.1.6 for more information) and with the APEC Business Advisory Council (ABAC). We improved our interactions with the Australian members of ABAC and instituted measures to elicit business views more efficiently and strategically and to feed these into APEC, including through:
- organising regular meetings with Australian ABAC members and better coordination of positions in advance of international meetings
- organising meetings between ABAC members and peak industry bodies
- organising an APEC business forum in Sydney in April 2004 which attracted nearly 100 high-profile members of the business community to discuss possible APEC (and ABAC) work in support of Australian business interests
- advocating amendments to APEC operating procedures that would better facilitate direct business input.
Trade wins—improving market access for Australian exporters
The department continued to help Australian exporters facing market access difficulties overseas. Our advocacy, particularly through our network of overseas missions, was instrumental in improving access for Australian exporters in a wide cross-section of countries and sectors. Key 'trade wins' in 2003–04 included:
- a reduction in Vietnam's tariffs on Australian wine imports in June 2004 to bring them in line with tariffs imposed on imports from the European Union (EU)
- following an intensive lobbying effort by Australian officials in key European capitals, in October 2003 the EU granted an autonomous tariff quota that enabled the import of 1500 tonnes of frozen rock lobster for further processing at 6 per cent duty—well below the usual 12.5 per cent tariff. In February 2004, the EU agreed to extend the autonomous tariff quota until the end of 2006. These decisions opened the way for increased access to EU markets for Australian rock lobster exporters
- representations from our mission in Hong Kong were instrumental in bringing about a Hong Kong decision in November 2003 to simplify inspection of imports of Australian dairy foods. Our dairy products will no longer be held on the docks on arrival in Hong Kong
- Extensive lobbying efforts by the department played a key role in Saudi Arabia's decision to lift its ban on imports of offal and spinal cords.
Our network
State and territory offices again played an important role in the department's trade advocacy and outreach work in 2003–04. Their strong links with state governments and local industry and business groups allowed for key trade messages to be disseminated to a wide audience. The state and territory offices played a vital role in communicating messages to the Australian community related to important trade policy developments, including the Thailand–Australia Free Trade Agreement (TAFTA), the AUSFTA and Mr Vaile's Trade 2004 statement.
Services to state governments and other agencies overseas and in Australia
The department played a significant role supporting visits overseas by state and territory ministers, parliamentarians and officials, Australian government officials and others. Some examples include visits to:
- China by the Premiers of South Australia, Western Australia and Tasmania and the Chief Minister of the Northern Territory to promote business opportunities
- Japan by the Governor of South Australia, the Premier of Tasmania and ministers from New South Wales, Queensland, Western Australia and the Northern Territory to promote economic and cultural links
- the Republic of Korea by the Premiers of South Australia and Western Australia to promote exports and investment
- Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei by ministers from Western Australia, the Northern Territory and South Australia to promote exchange, trade and tourism links and agribusiness
- Malaysia by the Governor of South Australia to promote South Australia/Malaysia relations
- Thailand and Vietnam by the Governor of New South Wales to strengthen bilateral links in health services
- India by state government ministers, trade delegations and officials to strengthen state-to-state ties, identify new business opportunities and expand cooperation in sports development
- Egypt by a state governor, a state standing committee on natural resource management, a state minister and a former prime minister to pursue trade and investment interests
- Saudi Arabia, Qatar, the United Arab Emirates and Lebanon by the Premier of Victoria to promote trade, investment, education and cultural links
- Israel by two state premiers to promote trade, investment and research and development links.
We provided briefings, policy advice and other support for a wide range of Australian government agencies on international aspects of their agendas, activities and programs. This included helping to arrange visit programs, participating in negotiations on bilateral agreements and understandings, and facilitating and providing representation at international meetings. Some examples include:
- support for placement of a number of Australian Federal Police (AFP) officers (for example, to Phnom Penh and Rangoon) and assistance to the AFP in Thailand for carrying out extradition requests
- assistance to the Department of Transport and Regional Services in finalising air services agreements with Singapore and Brunei
- assistance to the Attorney-General's Department to promote legal services and counter-terrorism cooperation in Malaysia, Singapore and Brunei
- assistance to the Department of Agriculture, Fisheries and Forestry (DAFF) with a number of problems involving Australian agricultural exports to India, the cargo of live sheep aboard the MV Cormo Express and market access for wheat flour to Indonesia
- cooperation with IP Australia on WTO Trade Related Aspects of Intellectual Property (TRIPS), the Doha Round negotiations and in the World Intellectual Property Organization
- assistance to the Department of Environment and Heritage at the 7th Conference of the Parties to the Convention on Biological Diversity
- assistance and consultations with Biosecurity Australia on quarantine issues with the Philippines, especially in relation to the draft Import Risk Assessment on bananas from the Philippines
- assistance to the Australian Quarantine Inspection Service and Biosecurity Australia on quarantine issues with Malaysia and meat export facilities for exports to Malaysia
- assistance to the Department of Health and Ageing in Australia's cooperation with Singapore on responses to the severe acute respiratory syndrome (SARS) crisis and emerging infectious diseases
- assistance to Treasury and Invest Australia in their South-East Asian activities
- assistance to Asialink and the Global Foundation in planning and staging regional conferences
- support for a visit to Mauritius by a Coastwatch delegation seeking to improve cooperation on illegal fishing issues
- cooperation with DAFF, the Australian Fisheries Management Authority and the Attorney-General's Department in negotiations leading to the entry into force of the Convention on the Conservation and Management of Highly Migratory Fish Stocks in the Western and Central Pacific Ocean.
Open source collection
The Government provided the department with $905 000 in 2003–04, and allocated an additional $4.8 million over the subsequent three years, for the expansion of its Open Source Collection Unit. This significantly strengthened our capacity to provide translations and summaries of news from Indonesian and Pacific broadcast, print and Internet media. We responded to increased demands for information on regional terrorism networks in South-East Asia and for additional coverage of issues such as people smuggling, money laundering and other transnational issues. The growth of the collection function has involved a significant increase in liaison with other government agencies in determining collection priorities.
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Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade Annual Report 2003–2004
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