Interview with Celina Edmonds on Sky News
Topic: Australia Unlimited
Transcript, E&OE
14 May 2010
INTRODUCTION :Australia's new national brand has been unveiled in Sydney this morning. "Australia Unlimited" has been announced as the new concept which will be the public face of Australia on the international stage in the 21st century. Part of the Brand Australia program, it's hoped the Australia Unlimited program will go beyond the typical tourism message to be an overarching brand for the entire country. Sky News national affairs reporter Celina Edmonds spoke with the Trade Minister Simon Crean shortly after the launch.
REPORTER:Minister, thank you very much for your time. Why has it taken us so long to move away from bikinis, barbecues and beaches, do you think?
SIMON CREAN:Well it hasn't take us a long time to move away from it. Australia has been developing a quite unique brand in the rest of the world, it's just that no-one knows about it. In everything that Australia does, it punches above its weight. We want to take it beyond the surprise factor. We don't want to be just the quiet achievers, it won't cut it in the 21st century so we've got to take what we are and promote it more effectively to the world. And this is all about saying "it's not just a place to come and have a holiday, this is a place to come and invest, to set up your business". But also, we have so many creative innovative solutions to your problems, we can sell and market and produce and provide services anywhere in the world over a whole range of activities. It's that diversity we want to promote.
REPORTER:You're taking this to World Expo in Shanghai, also to the Commonwealth Games, I understand, but it's more than a tourism campaign.
SIMON CREAN:Oh yeah, much more than a tourism campaign. I mean, we are more than a quarry and a farm, we're more than just a picture postcard. We are that destination that people come to for business, we are the base from which so much business and opportunity can be generated. Whatever we do, quality, what we want to say is, not just if it's made in Australia, but "if it is Australian, it's good". That's the reinforcement that we want to convey. The other thing is if you look at the icon that's there, it is about reaching out to the rest of the world. So obviously, for trade across the Indian Ocean, across the Pacific Ocean. But it's also that welcoming nation - those values that are Australian. We're welcoming, we're tolerant, we want you to come here but we're not going to constrain you. So I think the image really says in a powerful way what is so much good about this country.
REPORTER:And where do you take it from here? How do businesses, Australian businesses use this for themselves?
SIMON CREAN:We had a lot of business input into selecting this winning outcome, but what we now want is for businesses to take up this brand, to apply it to their products and services in the knowledge that because all of those qualities I talked about before - they're not challenged, it's only that they're not immediately identified. If we can constantly reinforce the strength of Australia's position in the rest of the world, we'll do a lot better trading with the rest of the world.
REPORTER:And so businesses, no charge for doing this, for using this?
SIMON CREAN:No, we want businesses to take this up, to badge it, to use it. This is an Australian Government initiative.... We are proud of what our businesses have done, we want them to market that pride.
ENDS
Media inquiries
- Trade Minister's Office: (02) 6277 7420
- Departmental Media Liaison: (02) 6261 1555