Australia should use the immediate post-COVID-19 period to develop a bigger "high tech, flexible manufacturing industry," according to former Fortescue CEO Nev Power. Manufacturing used to the bastion of the Australian economy but has declined significantly over the past fifty years. Manufacturing made up nearly 30 per cent of gross domestic product in the 1960s, however the sector now has slumped to around six per cent of GDP as many businesses move offshore.
Mr Power, who is part of the government's commission, told Sky News the sector must embrace"high tech, flexible manufacturing that is modern and attracts a sort of investment we need." "In the early days, post pandemic, we will have a low dollar, disrupted supply chains which create opportunities for local manufacturing and we will have amply supply of labour from people that have been displaced from industries that will take longer to start up," he said.
Funny no-one asks what it will cost and how much extra we're prepared to pay for Australian made 😊
Manufacturing has been dead for at least 30 years. We don’t know how to do it anymore.
Neither Ticky nor Nev mentioned Nuclear...the clean cheap energy. We sit upon abundant Uranium deposits...which we export in vast amounts everyday Sadly...this tells me that Nuclear Energy is still taboo in gov't circles... how dumb France isn't a suicidal country
I think he means robots not workers. But regardless it would be good to make things here again.
Thanks it might be a good idea that some of the f7nds from the rescue package would be directed to encouraging more manufacturing in Australia
Australian tech industry you must be joking! The Australian technology sector was screwed by cheap 457visa labour from overseas and outsourcing to the US and India.
True...! It’s time to be self sufficient in manufacturing! Especially essential goods ! If we start relying on other countries we be ending up being their market. So move on and put a halt on Foreign investment in Australia.
Absolutely.
if we can conjure a global pandemic each decade, Australian innovation will flourish.
Should go without saying lol but then again so should alot of things...
After decades of de skilling a nation it will take sometime and $$
Love that idea bring it on
Reliance on cheap asian supply chain fucked us up! Time to be an independent nation and develop our own crumpling manufacturing industry which is on the verge of instinct. Politicians sold us out folks..time to re-emerge now!
1. Textiles 2. Buy out Holden: change history electric cars 3. Manufacture Medical supplies 4. agriculture: improve opportunities Global distribution. DM: strategy. DanielAndrewsMP GladysB marshall_steven JennyMikakos AnnastaciaMP ScottMorrisonMP JoshFrydenberg AlboMP
So says the CEO of a company whose primary activity is digging dirt out of the ground for export. They've been sucking on the Chinese tit for a very long time.
No, Australia does not have a large enough domestic market to sustain its own high tech and manufacturing industries. It would be stupid for small countries like Australia to go global decoupling. covid19australia