Should we care? Most of the services sector has been happy to get on with creating wealth and jobs – three quarters of all jobs in Australia by the way – without massive government assistance, without subsidies and without tariffs. However, whenever one industry is provided a subsidy or financial assistance, other industries suffer either through a greater tax burden or through resources such as labour being diverted to the subsidised industry. The facts and data show that the services sector is our largest employer and makes up the largest contribution to GDP. Our largest single industry is financial services and our third-largest export is education. While the Rudd Government marked a new high point in the importance of services in the mind of the Government, the current Cabinet shows a return to the Physiocrat view of Australian industry. However, there is cause for hope. The commitment by the Trade Minister, Craig Emerson, to up the ante on trade in services in global trade negotiations indicates a refocusing of Australia’s trade policy. This is the kind of assistance the services sector wants and needs. We do not want massive subsidies or tariff protection, but we do want the recognition we deserve, a fair hearing and to be treated as an industry.