Now that the Labor Party is at the helm of government in Australia, Prime Minister Anthony Albanese and his team are beginning work on their proposed policies which revolve primarily around A Future Made In Australia.

The policy framework aims to bring off-shored manufacturing back to Australia and make the country self-sufficient in producing essential goods and services by investing heavily in advanced manufacturing capabilities across a variety of sectors. By doing so, the new government wants to temper the effects of the global recession and make Australia resilient against any pandemic-like events in the future. In the words of the premier himself:

“Serious countries should make things. Serious countries can stand on their own two feet when it comes to manufacturing essentials.”

Where do we stand?

The coronavirus pandemic has laid bare the critical vulnerabilities in our manufacturing industry and supply chains. When lockdowns were imposed to curtail the spread of the virus, the country found itself lacking in much-needed goods and services because we’ve slowly off-shored the manufacturing of those goods over the past two decades.

This situation is reflected more concretely in how Australia ranks last on OECD’s list of countries with manufacturing self-sufficiency. We use $565 billion worth of manufacturing output, but produce only $380 billion of that ourselves - this is in stark contrast to countries like Germany and Sweden which produce more than they use.

However, this is not due to a lack of knowledge or will. Marie Kinsella, the CEO of the International Exhibition & Conference (IEC) Group, reports that at a Modern Manufacturing Town Hall earlier this year, she witnessed a poignant example of the potential we have locally - some of the biggest names from the industry along with academic institutions came together to brainstorm and share ideas about how they are using technology to advance the state of manufacturing in Australia.

Instead, the issue is a lack of resources. Ms Kinsella reports that her organisation comes regularly into contact with small manufacturers and businesses who would like to advance their manufacturing capabilities by leveraging R&D but don’t have the resources to do so. This is exactly what the new Labor government intends to solve.

Investing in advanced manufacturing

As part of its $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund, the Labor government has announced that it will be investing $1 billion into developing advanced manufacturing capabilities in Australia to not only make the country self-sufficient for essential goods and services but also to improve the country’s competitiveness in the global industry.

This is expected to create about 85,000 new jobs in all major sectors including transport, defence, natural resources, agriculture, food processing, medical science, renewable energy, and low emissions technologies. At the same time, businesses will get access to capital that can be used to diversify their operations and conduct R&D to climb the technological ladder.

More specifically, the investment will focus on:

• Upgrading the country’s outdated energy grid to supply cheap and renewable energy resources to industries developing and using advanced manufacturing technologies

• Giving more government and commonwealth contracts to Australian businesses (rather than international competitors) and encouraging the use of Australian-made goods and services

• Locally manufacturing more trains, trams, and ferries

• Nurturing the local defence manufacturing sector by giving local businesses a greater share of contracts from the estimated $270 billion set aside for defence spending over the next decade

• Training thousands of workers in skills needed to support advanced manufacturing and ensuring that one in ten workers in major government projects is an apprentice, trainee, or cadet

Manufacturing boom incoming?

As businesses prepare to leverage these investments and initiate technology-advancing projects, there will be a greater need for skilled talent to research and oversee the execution of those projects and drive the advancement of manufacturing capabilities.

At Segen, we specialise in sourcing high-quality talent that fits seamlessly into the organisational cultures of our clients and helps them rapidly move towards their goals. If you’re looking for talent for an upcoming project, make sure to take a look at all the services we offer.