ON the occasion of its 50th anniversary, I congratulate Manufacturers’ Monthly and everyone who has played a role in that achievement.
Any contribution that advances understanding of the importance of manufacturing to Australia should be celebrated – and there is no doubt that Manufacturers’ Monthly has made a substantial one over the past half-century.
From the earliest days of our settlement, Australians have possessed an instinctive desire to make things and displayed great skill in doing so.
Clearly, the nature of Australian manufacturing has evolved dramatically since those times. And we can only begin to imagine how much more it may change in the centuries ahead.
It has nevertheless been a constant that manufacturing has played a vital role in shaping our economic destiny. I firmly believe that must also remain the case for many years to come.
Despite substantial recent job losses, the sector still employs nearly a million Australians. It also remains a crucial driver of innovation and new technology, a central player in advancing research and development activity, and generates products that are essential to Australians’ everyday lives.
Naturally, like many leading figures and organisations, I have been dismayed by the indifference shown to manufacturers over recent years by the Rudd and Gillard Governments. Like BlueScope Steel Chair Graeme Kraehe and CEO Paul O’Malley, I am infuriated that the Labor Party has continued to pursue such a wanton ‘anti-manufacturing’ agenda.
But, like Mr Kraehe and Mr O’Malley, I also haven’t lost optimism in Australian manufacturing’s future. Throughout its history, the sector has shown that it is resilient, smart, innovative and hard-working. Although it often faces many cost disadvantages, its entrepreneurial spirit, skill and resourcefulness still make it a formidable international competitor.
I earnestly hope that the Government shares those views, too. It simply must halt its approach of burdening manufacturing businesses with too many costs and pressures. Especially in the face of rising interest rates and the high Australian dollar.
Both sides of politics must recognise that the decisions we make over the next few years will be critical to the future of Australian manufacturing. Many manufacturers are already struggling on wafer-thin margins, and are confronting increasingly intense competition from overseas.
In such circumstances, more must be done to address our growing disadvantages against countries with lower labour costs, OH&S laws and environmental standards. And now is certainly not the time to introduce a foolish carbon tax that will inevitably only exacerbate those differences, and export jobs (as well as carbon) offshore.
Instead, governments must strive to develop policies that give Australian businesses a chance to survive and succeed. They must deliver initiatives that work for them, not against them.
Governments must also pay more heed to the needs of our manufacturing community; there must be more consultation; and there must be greater focus on what kind of economy we want in 10, 20 and indeed another 50 years from now.
Frankly, there’s too much at stake to do otherwise.
There has rarely been a time (even over the past 50 years) when such discussions have been so crucial, and I know that Manufacturers’ Monthly will be continuing to assume an important place in taking the debate forward.
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