From the Union

It’s time to have our say on what the future of our industry looks like

Recently, the Senate announced that it would be holding an inquiry into the future of manufacturing in Australia. As everyone reading this will be aware, it is not the first time that this topic has been looked into by the Senate, but the time is right for some real action to support our industry.

While other nations around the world are moving Heaven and Earth to protect, grow and diversify their manufacturing sectors in response to the challenges highlighted by COVID, the Morrison Government has sat on its hands. The Government’s response to the biggest peacetime disruption of global supply changes has been to do more of the same. Despite its pricetag, the $1.3bn Modern Manufacturing Initiative is little more than a rebranding of the approach that has seen Australia become one of the least self-sufficient developed countries in the world for manufactured items. At best, this program tinkers at the edges – but it is hard to know exactly because nearly a year after it was announced, less than $100m has actually been committed! It’s just not good enough – we can’t keep doing the same thing over and over again and expect to get a different result. The AMWU and business leaders joined with the Federal Government at the start of the COVID-19 crisis to help protect our industry. We engaged with the Government in good faith because even blind Freddy could see how important a domestic manufacturing was going to be with the world in crisis. As is now well publicised, the manufacturing taskforce was overtaken by advocates for a gas-led recovery, not a manufacturingled recovery. It was a slap in the face for the manufacturing workers who kept the shelves in our supermarkets stocked with the items that families and businesses needed during COVID-19. So, once again, we’re back at the drawing board, looking to chart a new, bold course to grow our industry, deliver jobs and ensure our country is never caught short in a crisis ever again. It is important that our industry shares the same vision for the future, so I encourage everyone to get involved in the Senate inquiry. For our part, the AMWU’s contribution will be focused on our members’ stories and their vision for the future. Since becoming the national secretary I’ve spent a lot of time listening to our members around the country, and in my view they are the best advocates for our industry. They’re skilled, passionate, and – most importantly – they love the work they do. I want our policymakers to see the manufacturing industry through their eyes, to understand what it means to the workers it employs and the communities that it supports. Too often, industry policy has been focused on the latest and greatest at the expense of improving what we already do. There are currently more than 900,000 manufacturing workers in Australia, despite decades of policy neglect. If we were able to achieve a level of self-sufficiency – to make and export as much as we import (something achieved by counties like Spain, France and New Zealand) we would create 400,000 more direct manufacturing jobs and a further 265,000 in the supply chain. That can only be achieved by building our existing small and medium businesses into large, thriving exporters. Our members want Australia to be at the top of the queue in emerging industries like lithium batteries, green hydrogen, green steel and a whole range of emerging Industry 4.0 technologies – but they don’t want us to forget about the important work they’re already doing. We need every manufacturing business in Australia to be investing in new technologies, new ways of doing business and constantly improving the skills of their workers. We need workers who are confident and secure in their jobs, working productively with the best capital equipment money can buy. We need a Government with the vision and commitment to make that happen. Our members tell us that they don’t think the current approach is working because it sees their taxes spent buying products offshore that could be purchased here. They tell us that we’re not doing enough to support skill development – from apprenticeships to upskilling experienced workers. The AMWU is acutely aware of the potential impact of climate change on our industry now and into the future. From disruption to supply chains and competition for resources on one end of the scale, to the potential for carbon tariffs being at the other. The lack of leadership from our Federal Government has increased the climate-change risk to our industry, when it could be a huge opportunity to create jobs. Australia has been a huge exporter of energy for generations and with the right support, we can continue doing just that in a carbon-free future. We want to see Australia’s energy transition support growth in manufacturing. Domestically, our access to limitless, cheap, renewable energy should make us an ideal place to invest in energyintensive manufacturing. Combined with our natural advantages in energy production, we should be on track to be increasing our exports of energy and renewably manufactured materials, even as the world transitions to net-zero emissions. Sadly, that hasn’t happened – but we believe it can. There is so much potential for our industry, but we need the government’s support to unlock it. That is why we’re working with the Senate inquiry to share our vision of hope for the future, and we encourage you to as well.