Industry taskforce long on pollies, unionists

The federal government has established a manufacturing industry taskforce that includes seven politicians, six unionists, two academics and one business lobbyist along with six industry executives.

The business executives are from a diverse mix of companies, namely automotive manufacturer Holden, steel producer OneSteel, aeronautical company Boeing, international electronics company Thales, textile manufacturer and exporter Textor Technologies and Hewlett Packard spin-off Agilent Technologies.

The taskforce was one of the outcomes of last month’s jobs forum in Canberra.

Prime Minister Julia Gillard will chair the taskforce, signalling the political importance she attaches to the issue of employment and job security in the manufacturing sector.

“The new high-level taskforce will map out a shared vision for the future of Australia’s manufacturing sector and help strengthen local firms as they adapt to changes in our economy, including the rise of Asia,” the Prime Minister said in a statement.

“We want to see the sector move up the value chain. To do this we need to build the skills and innovation that the sector needs for a new era of manufacturing.” 

The list of initial members of the taskforce is below.

Prime Ministers Taskforce on Manufacturing - Members

Government

The Hon Julia Gillard MP, Prime Minister (Chair)

Senator the Hon Kim Carr, Minister for Innovation, Industry, Science and Research (Deputy Chair)

The Hon Wayne Swan MP, Deputy Prime Minister

Senator the Hon Chris Evans, Minister for Tertiary Education, Skills, Jobs and Workplace Relations

Senator the Hon Penny Wong, Minister for Finance and Deregulation

The Hon Craig Emerson, Minister for Trade

The Hon Jason Clare MP, Minister for Defence Materiel

Industry

Mr Philip Binns, Vice President and General Manager, Agilent Technologies

Mr Geoff Plummer, CEO, OneSteel

Mr Ian Thomas, President, Boeing

Ms Heather Ridout, CEO, AiG

Mr Mike Devereux, Chairman and Managing Director, Holden

Mr Chris Jenkins MD Thales

Mr Phil Butler, MD, Textor Technologies

Unions

Mr Jeff Lawrence, ACTU

Mr Paul Howes, National Secretary, Australian Workers Union

Mr David Oliver, National Secretary, Australian Manufacturing Workers Union

Mr Michael O’Connor, CFMEU

Mr Charlie Donnelly, NUW

Ms Michele O’Neil, TCFUA

Science and Technology

Professor Roy Green, Professor and Dean of the Faculty of Business, University of Technology Sydney

Dr Megan Clark, Chief Executive, CSIRO

Professor Jonathan West, AIRC, University of Tasmania