Tasmanian Business Reporter June 2018

6 Tasmanian Business Reporter - JUNE 2018
THOUGHT LEADERSHIP
Opportunities abound
after Singapore exhibit
Sally
Chandler
Tradestart Adviser
www.tcci.com.au
Wage growth
essential to
secure future
Anita
Dow
Shadow Minister for Economic
and Regional Development
THE four-day trade show
Food & Hotel Asia 2018
(FHA) was held in Singapore
in April.
FHA is held biennially
and draws buyers from
the South Asian region as
well as exhibitors from
many parts of the world.
This year’s event attracted
more than 55,000
visitors from more than
100 countries or regions.
A record 3,526 exhibitors
from 76 countries
and regions covered
119,500 square metres of
exhibition space across
two venues. There were
72 international group
pavilions.
For the first time in six
years, the trade unit at
the Department of State
Growth organised a stand
for Tasmanian exhibitors.
The stand in the Australian
pavilion. was
co-ordinated by Fransena
Kennedy.
Nine Tasmanian companies
exhibited including
Australian Honey
Products, Juicy Isle, Hill
Farm Preserves, Tas’Mania,
Blue Hills Honey,
Woodbridge Smokehouse,
Daly Gourmet Potatoes,
Tasmanian Gourmet
Sauce Company and
Tasman Sea Salt.
I introduced Austrade
business development
managers from the nine
South Asian offices of
Singapore, Malaysia, Sri
Lanka, Thailand, Myanmar,
Indonesia, Brunei
Darussalam, Vietnam
and the Philippines to
each Tasmanian exhibitor
so that they in turn could
introduce their appropriate
visiting buyers to the
companies and the excellent
Tasmanian products
on display.
The Tasmanian products
included several varieties
of honey including
Leatherwood and
Manuka, honey mead
with Tasmanian whisky,
fruit juices, carbonated
flavoured waters, mineral
water, seeded and
paste mustards, infused
canola oils, canned abalone,
cheese, fresh apples,
smoked salmon
and smoked trout, potato
salad varieties, relishes,
jams, sauces and sea salt.
All Tasmanian exhibitors
are now busily following
up with the contacts
they made at the
trade show and early
signs of sales activity are
encouraging.
Exhibiting at industry-specific
trade shows
and for the more premium
products, product specific
trade shows, are an excellent
way of showcasing
our goods to international
buyers whether they be
Yeonsoon and Lindsay Bourke exhibit their honey products at Food &
Hotel Asia trade show in Singapore.
importers, distributors,
food service companies
or retailers buying direct
for brick and mortar
stores or online.
I am very happy to discuss
future trade show
opportunities with interested
product manufacturers
across all industries.
For international trade and investment assistance
contact the TCCI’s TradeStart Adviser,
Sally Chandler, at sally.chandler@tcci.com.au
or phone 1300 559 122.
IT IS an honour to take on the role of Shadow
Minister for Economic and Regional Development
as part of Labor’s new team.
I am a proud regional Tasmanian living in
Burnie.
My family has a long association with Tasmanian
industry, large and small, owner and
worker.
My maternal grandfather had a very successful
logging business on the East Coast of Tasmania,
and my paternal grandfather worked at
the APPM Timber mill.
In those days, Burnie was defined by the
plumes of smoke in our air and the red foam
drifting on our coastline.
Today, it is a different story.
My husband, Rory, and I are a part of that
change. We’re proud to be a very small part of
Tasmania’s agriculture industry growing blueberries
and seed potatoes near Burnie.
As Shadow Economic and Regional Development
Minister I want to be a part of those conversations
about how Tasmania is changing.
But not only that, I want to work with you to
plan effectively for the future of our state and
the needs of our people.
I believe we must have a better defined understanding
of what we want the Tasmanian
economy to look like in the future. What are the
growth industries worldwide and how can we
use our natural advantages to embrace opportunities
locally?
Tasmania’s geographical location should no
longer be a barrier to growth with new technology
making it easier to communicate and engage
with the world. But we have to be clear about
what we want for the future of our state.
One of the major concerns I have with our
economy is the extremely low average weekly
wages that Tasmanian workers are earning. Any
economic development strategy needs to take
into account the ability of Tasmanian workers
to earn a decent living from a hard days’ work.
Health cover reform needs leadership
THIS year’s Federal
Budget was eerily quiet
for the private health insurance
sector given the
amount of attention it
has had from both sides
of the political fence in
recent months.
No doubt the upcoming
federal election will
cast a spotlight on health
and the industry, with
Labor already voicing
it will cap premiums
and launch a Productivity
Commission Inquiry
into health insurance if
elected.
The Turnbull Government
has also been
busily formulating a raft
of recommendations,
which will see the introduction
of Gold, Silver,
Bronze and Basic product
categories in April
2019.
These changes centre
Paul
Lupo
CEO, StLukesHealth
around being more transparent
for prospective
members to understand.
It also introduced minimum
benefits payable
for most medical devices
on the Prosthesis List,
which is expected to
save insurers more than
$1 billion between 2018
and 2021.
The need for reform
is inevitable if private
health insurance is to
survive in the future and
St.LukesHealth fully
supports this process.
But the aim of this reform
needs to be improving
the affordability of
the health system.
With the health cost
inflation continuing to
grow at 6 to 7 per cent
per annum, this puts
enormous pressure on
the private and public
systems to fund such increases
through premiums,
taxes and the Medicare
levy.
This has been acknowledged
by government
with its recent decision
to increase funding
to public hospitals by 6
per cent per annum for
the next three years.
Achieving meaningful
health cost reform
should be the top of each
political parties’ agenda,
with more than 13.5
million Australians having
some form of private
health cover, and more
than 80 per cent of this
cohort believing they receive
value for money.
Contrary to the belief
that private health insurance
is only for the
wealthy, almost half of
all people with private
The need for reform
is inevitable if
private health
insurance is to
survive in the future
health insurance have
an annual income of
$50,000 or less.
In Tasmania, just under
one in two people
take out private health
insurance, meaning that
while wages are stagnant
and cost of living pressures
continue to rise,
people are putting the
value of health insurance
above other luxuries in
life.
Private health funds
pay for two thirds of essential
planned surgery,
most mental health ad-
missions to hospital and
40 million dental services.
In monetary terms,
private health insurance
contributes about $20
billion on behalf of insured
members to the
Australian healthcare
system.
As a not-for-profit
health fund, the only
reason premium costs
rise is because the costs
of medical devices, hospital
accommodation,
fees charged by medical
specialists and providers
continues to rise.
Add to this an ageing
population that is living
longer because of medical
advances, and little
wonder why the health
system is under pressure.
This is even more of
a challenge in Tasmania
which has one of the
oldest age profiles of any
state and also one of the
highest disease.
I’m sure all Australians
would agree that
both sides of politics
need to stop politicising
the health debate as
a way of winning votes
and work on sustainable
long-term solution to
tackle the ever-increasing
cost in the health
supply chain.
We have great people
in all parts of our
health system, however
we need meaningful,
well thought-out reform
and both the private and
public sectors working
together to provide an
affordable health system
that we all can access, afford
and rely upon.
With great leadership
and a single focus, we
can do it.