Rob Mitchell (McEwen, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

On behalf of the House of Representatives Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Resources, I present the committee's report entitled Sovereign, smart, sustainable: driving advanced manufacturing in Australia, together with the minutes and proceedings. I ask leave of the House to make a short statement in connection with the report.

Leave granted.

The Minister for Industry and Science made a reference to the Standing Committee on Industry, Science and Resources in February this year for an inquiry into developing advanced manufacturing in Australia.

And we welcomed that referral because Australia is at a crossroads when it comes to our industrial and economic development.

Manufacturing has been in decline in this country since the sixties.

Now is the time to turn that around and set Australia on a course to becoming globally competitive in advanced manufacturing.

The COVID pandemic and geopolitical tensions have shown us the folly of over-relying on imports for all the goods our society needs.

But our manufacturing self-sufficiency is the lowest in the OECD.

This can and must change.

During this inquiry, we also heard that the notion Australian-made products cannot compete with foreign alternatives is now an outdated view.

With advanced manufacturing processes and techniques, particularly Industry 4.0 technologies, Australian manufacturing can be globally competitive—including on cost.

Other developed nations that have embraced Industry 4.0 technologies are seeing manufacturing jobs return to their shores.

Robots are not replacing jobs; they are bringing them back from low-wage jurisdictions.

We heard that Australian manufacturers are already succeeding in global markets in high value-added niches, where they can compete on R&D, quality, safety and trust rather than being 2c cheaper than the competition.

The inquiry heard support for investing in the National Reconstruction Fund priority areas, as areas where our existing competitive advantages and sovereign capability needs coincide, and we welcome today's announcement by the Albanese government.

For too long, most of our mineral wealth has been exported as raw product, with little or no onshore value-adding.

This is a wasted opportunity—particularly when our critical minerals are key ingredients in global growth markets like solar panels.

Inquiry participants applauded the government investments to revive Australian manufacturing, by both the current and former Australian government, as well as our state counterparts.

They recognise that this is a long-term game, requiring long-term commitment and follow-through across political parties to draw in private sector investment.

But make no mistake: while this is ultimately a long game, Australia is also in a race against the clock right now.

Our global partners are looking to re-shore or friendly-shore their critical supply chains, and develop their own sovereign capabilities and advanced manufacturing.

Our export partners for energy commodities like coal and gas—mainstays of our export wealth—are moving to decarbonise.

Australia must act to maximise our slice of the pie in the new global growth industries, including renewable energy technologies, or be left behind.

We heard that, for advanced manufacturing to succeed in Australia at scale, key barriers must be overcome. Manufacturers are struggling to access suitable investment capital on private markets alone. Australia's low rates of commercialisation and industry-research collaboration remain problems. Worker and skills shortage were raised by almost every participant in the inquiry.

Our report does not minimise such challenges. But solutions do exist—solutions that will put Australian manufacturers on a path to working smarter and moving up the value chain.

This report makes 10 recommendations to build on the existing program of work by the Australian government. They include recommendations to better support small and medium-size manufacturers—the majority of manufacturers—to access the funding and capability development programs they need to adopt Industry 4.0 and to pursue innovative value-adding opportunities.

We note the transformative role being played by Australia's existing innovation precincts and common-use facilities and recommend that we should be building more. We suggest changes to skilled migration, education and training settings to help meet our critical workforce needs. This includes recommendations to help tap a more-diverse pool of potential advanced manufacturing workers, including women.

I thank the submitters and the witnesses to this inquiry for contributing their insights and expertise. I would especially like to thank those who hosted the committee at site visits to world-leading advanced manufacturing facilities across Australia. These visits showed us what is possible—that Australia can be a leader in the advanced manufacturing game.

I would also like to thank the secretariat for their hard work, their diligence and their forbearance. I also want to thank in particular the deputy chair, the member for Capricornia, for the spirit of bipartisanship and cooperation she brought to this inquiry.

Lastly, I'd like to thank my fellow committee members, whose sharp questioning, analysis and ideas have shaped this report and recommendations.

I commend this report to the House.

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