Stop the offshoring revolution now - news commentary by Andy McCourt

The first news of 2006 is that a major Australian bank thinks that it can shift 20%-50% of its print work offshore and save money, and that Medicare cards will be made offshore.

As Thomas Jefferson said, “The best time to stop a revolution is before it happens.” We need urgent action. Once the trend is established, offshore print sourcing will become a landslide and the printing industry as we know it will cease to exist.

If that happens, the $1.8 billion in capital investment over the past 18 months will be money wasted, not to mention the jobs lost.

This is not advocating protectionism or in any way saying the great printing firms of China and other countries should not compete. Australia is part of the global economy and China in particular is a good trading partner. The aim should be to communicate with major Australian print buyers that:
a) The Australian printing industry is one of the best-equipped and competitive in the world, when comparing apples-for-apples.
b) Offshoring security and sensitive printing exposes us to identity theft, fraud and terrorism.
c) Australian printers adhere to international codes on workplace safety, conditions and environmental practices. There is a cost to this. FSC certified papers, for example, indicate the stock is from renewable, sustainable resources. Pulpwood from old-growth forests, rainforest habitats and illegally-felled timber from Russia is pouring into Asian mills, and yet little is done to check the printed product it results in for compliance with corporate and government environmental policies.

MY CALL:

We have to get used to globalisation but, as Doug Cameron has noted 'It's gone mad.' There needs to be a balance achieved and part of this might be encouraging our offshore printer colleagues to embrace OECD-recognised OH&S, environment, pay and condition policies - to improve the lot of their workers.

By the way, Customs has already intercepted shipping containers and air baggage containing counterfeit Medicare and other security cards. Shifting the printing of these to far off lands will play right into the hands of the fraudsters. They will have access to the real thing.

We live in interesting times.