Flying the flag for local manufacturing
There is something going wrong with manufacturing when you can’t even buy Aussie Made flags for Australia Day. That another country is producing our flag and selling it back to us is completely at odds with the sovereign manufacturing capability we were focused on during Covid – when the entire country realised we were too reliant on foreign imports and international supply chains.
Today, the Albanese Labor
Government should be backing in Australian manufacturers when international trade deals are made and also when it comes to government procurement – at all levels. Not even having a choice to purchase an Aussie-made flag in a shop shows this is far from reality.
What is going on with manufacturing? In just the past six months, 1650 manufacturing and construction businesses filed for insolvency amid some of the highest electricity prices in the world.
It didn’t have to be this way. The Australian Industry Group’s Performance of Manufacturing Index data shows business conditions for economic performance had consistent strong growth (+40 to +50 index range) for 15 consecutive months in the July 2019 to November 2022 period, including during the economic disruption of Covid-19.
Growth has since plummeted on the back of the Albanese Labor Government’s October 2022 Budget, with a contraction (between -12.8 to -25.6 index range) from November 2022 to December 2023.
Why isn’t more being done to support Australian advanced manufacturing in ensuring it remains sustainable? We have this very opportunity in Western Sydney with the International Airport’s Aerotropolis.
The Aerotropolis industrial hub is a unique opportunity to create tens of thousands of Aussie jobs and expand into international freight markets.
Today, however, the 11,200ha industrial zone surrounding Western Sydney International Airport remains largely undeveloped.
Anthony Albanese took Labor’s $15bn National Reconstruction Fund to the election with a raft of local manufacturing pledges in key regional seats to reclaim blue collar voters. Now it is these very people who will be doing it tough under the looming threat of job losses. .
The current state of manufacturing in this country should concern everyone. It’s about Australian jobs, our economic stability and security.
At the very least, buying an Aussiemade flag should be simple. It is our nation’s flag, there is nothing more sovereign than that.