The drop in August’s PMI should be attributed entirely to the labor government’s “impotence and incompetence on manufacturing policy”, says shadow industry minister, Sophie Mirabella.
Manufacturing contracted slightly during August, down 0.1 points to 43.3, remaining below the 50-point mark separating expansion from contraction.
Mirabella says the labor government is to blame, as it continually overlooks manufacturing sectors including steelmakers and fabricators.
Mirabella points out that since the labor government was elected in 2007, there have been 26 monthly contractions in manufacturing activity in Australia – with labor in office during 44 of these months.
“Manufacturing has been drifting for months under this aimless and paralysed Government – and there continues to be no serious response to the deepest crisis in the sector since the Great Depression,” said Mirabella.
According to the latest Australian Industry Group – PwC Australian Performance of Manufacturing Index (Australian PMI) figures, released on 1 September, the strong Australian dollar, sluggish domestic demand and increased competition from overseas were all to blame for Australia’s manufacturing contraction.
Even so, Mirabella claims that labor leaders are to blame, citing 13 expansions of manufacturing during the last 14 months of the Howard government’s leadership as contrast.
“They show supreme indifference to groups such as steel makers and fabricators: their Steel Industry Advocate position has been left vacant for nine months and the Steel Industry Innovation Council hasn’t even met for six months to discuss problems at businesses such as BlueScope and OneSteel,” said Mirabella.
“The Government is now refusing to even hold an inquiry into the crisis and possible ways out of its mess, and is rejecting deafening calls to dump its job-destroying and confidence-crushing carbon tax.
“It is staggering that, against the backdrop of rapidly increasing anxiety among Australian manufacturing workers about their employment security, Ms Gillard and her Industry Minister Kim Carr are interested only in clinging on to their own jobs.”