Today, out on the lawns of our amazing parliament, there’s a gathering of the Australian caravan industry—proud Australian manufacturers of caravans, displaying their products. It’s an industry which is doing us very proud. Before I share some statistics with the parliament about the impact of the caravan industry on Australia, I want to acknowledge the very amazing work of Stuart Lamont, the CEO of the Caravan Industry Association of Australia, and, of course, Luke Chippendale. Together, these two characters are doing an amazing job of driving this part of the economy forward.
The Australian caravaning association and industry contribute around $27.9 billion to the Australian economy, as people travel around buying vehicles, buying caravans and departing with their hard-earned money in communities. It’s an amazing contribution. There are about 30,000 units, caravans and camper trailers manufactured every year across a network of 190 manufacturers here in Australia. There are 21,000 full-time-job equivalents in the industry. They’re the people that make the components for the sinks, the fridges, the antennas, the spare tyres, the water tanks et cetera—all feeding into the industry. There are 4,000 manufacturers and component suppliers et cetera as well. So go and see your local caravan dealer and make plans to go and visit our amazing country in an Australian-made caravan.