MEDIA RELEASE

Friday, 20

th February, 2015

PM TONY ABBOTT NUMBER ONE AGAIN AFTER STANNO FACTORY VISIT

SYDNEY - Prime Minister Tony Abbott is ‘number one’ again after visiting the southern

Sydney regional headquarters of Dutch teamwear brand Stanno earlier this week.

Mr Abbott and Australian First Lady Margie Abbott and local federal MP(Barton) Nick

Varvaris, toured the Carlton factory and office facilities of Corporate and Sportswear Pty

Ltd, the exclusive licencee of Stanno throughout the region.

Towards the end of the tour, the PM switched from observer to worker on the factory

floor, operating the heat press used to apply transfer lettering and numbering onto

sporting garments. Ten seconds of heat later, the name "ABBOTT" and the number "1"

was applied to a Stanno-branded jersey in Australia’s green and gold sports colours.

“This is one of the thousands and thousands of

Australian small businesses that will do it easier

under the Free Trade Agreements that we've

negotiated,” Mr Abbott told reporters in a pre-

arranged ‘door stop’.

“Free Trade Agreements are good for exporters

because it gives them more markets. It gives

them a competitive advantage in those markets.

“As you can see, there are businesses, there are sporting clubs, there are schools, all of which are

having value added by this business but because the imports will be less expensive, the ultimate price

to the consumer will be lower and the ability of this business to meet the demands of the community

will be greater than it otherwise would be.”

Mr Sivris said it was clear, during a quick briefing on his business, that the Prime Minister “gets it” an was

then able to quickly and succinctly articulate the Stanno (Corporate and sportswear) business model.

"The Prime Minister was refreshingly keen to know about all facets of the operation," Michael Sivris,

Stanno Oceania CEO, said.

"He genuinely wanted to know whether the Free Trade Agreement had positively affected business.

“And he was impressed to hear that our transition from garment manufacturer to garment importer

didn’t mean sacrificing staff, who were instead repurposed into key roles including quality control and

customisation and embellishment.”

Mr Sivris said the PM's visit had provided a valuable opportunity to think more broadly about issues

affecting small businesses in the sports apparel sector, which admittedly, was a rare indulgence with

the heavy demands on his time by the business.

Picture: Chris Lane (Fairfax Media)- Leader story here

MEDIA RELEASE

Friday, 20

th February, 2015

He said those in the industry fighting for a level playing field, complaining they can't compete with

imports or that labour rates in Australia were too high, were raising issues they realistically couldn’t fix.

"They're relics of a past generation and should think about doing something different.

“There’s no such thing as a level playing field and frankly, it would require extraordinary circumstances

for a small business to manufacture in Australia."

He said considerable time and energy was spent identifying, appointing and visiting specialist, sporting

textile manufacturers within the south Asian subcontinent and ASEAN economic zone – including

China and Vietnam - where Stanno's manufacturers were mainly located.

“In that respect, free trade agreements should reduce some of the administrative burden and cost,”

Mr Sivris said.

“But the reality is, yes it’s great to benefit from tariff removal, but a single adverse currency exchange

rate fluctuation can completely blow that benefit out of the water and devastate your cash flow.”

The group employs 15 staff of which about half had served in their roles for more than 20 years. It’s

expected Stanno’s future expansion plans for Australia and New Zealand will result in additional jobs.

FOR FURTHER INFORMATION, CONTACT:

Anthony Stavrinos Michael Sivris

Communications, Stanno Oceania CEO, Stanno Oceania

+61 2 9547 1033 +61 2 9547 1033

PM Tony Abbott and Barton federal MP Nick Varvaris proudly display their customised Stanno jersey (pic: Matt Doran, Ten News); and (right) PM Abbott

and Mr Varvaris pose with Stanno Oceania CEO Michael Sivris and staff