Australian advanced manufacturing can only compete globally with a quantum increase in funding and government contracts, and the National Reconstruction Fund (NRF) alone may not be enough to achieve this, according to a report by national professional services firm RSM Australia.
RSM’s Innovate, Transform & Thrive: Securing Australia’s Manufacturing Industry has four recommendations:
– The level of funding and number of government contracts for advanced manufacturing must increase
– The NRF must direct funding to critical industries where Australia has a competitive advantage and for meaningful impact provide substantially larger amounts to targeted companies
– Consider implementation of Australia-first supply chain requirements for major projects and mandates for majority-owned Australia companies to support local manufacturers
– Reinstatement of the instant asset tax write-off to provide greater incentive to purchase capital equipment and machinery. This would encourage manufacturers to modernise, which could support decarbonisation, productivity and advanced manufacturing processes.
RSM Australia’s national leader manufacturing services, Jessica Olivier, said the backdrop to parliamentary hearings into Developing Advanced Manufacturing in Australia is a broader debate about the best way to fund and support the manufacturing sector, and who within the sector such funding should target.
“More government investment into manufacturing must be made if we are to truly embrace local manufacturing capability and boost the number of Australian-made goods,” Olivier said.
“Australia needs to model the US which is investing heavily in local manufacturing and pushing green technologies to grow its manufacturing capability.”
“More clean-energy manufacturing facilities have been announced in the last year in the US than in the previous seven years. This translates to well paid jobs and a massive boost to climate change initiatives that can reshape a nation.”