Australia relies more on imported goods than any other developed country, Flinders University report finds

Australia relies on imported goods more than any other developed country in the world, Adelaide research has found.

Australia’s dependence on imported goods is the highest in the developed world, a sobering report by Flinders University has found.

The Adelaide-led research shows Australia has “serious deficits” in its sovereign capabilities and is vulnerable to global supply chain disruptions.

It has found Australia produces the lowest proportion of manufactured products for its own consumption or use in the Organisation for Economic Co-operating and Development (OECD), and therefore has the highest dependency on imports.

The report says Australia has significantly “deindustrialised” over the past 25 years, making it “more vulnerable to supply chain shocks at a time of a global crisis” and is largely unable to independently meet its needs in health, defence, energy, science and advanced manufacturing.

The Adelaide-based Australian Sovereign Capability Alliance commissioned the report.

Alliance director Martin Hamilton-Smith, who was the former Investment and Trade Minister under the Jay Weatherill government, said Australia “lacks economic complexity”.

“We are precariously dependent on foreign governments and overseas multinational corporations to meet our essential national needs, leaving the economy and the nation dangerously exposed to economic disruption and strategic attack,” he said.

Last month, Defence Industry Minister Melissa Price announced a new strategy to boost the country’s sovereign capability in robotics, missile systems, space and information warfare.

According to the Flinders Uni report, Australia has strong capabilities in mining aluminium, manganese, titanium and tin ores, but has limited ability to convert those raw materials into metal products.

The alliance used the report to call for a dedicated minister for Australian sovereign capability.

The report suggests a return to public ownership of parts of the electricity network could provide a “significant spillover benefit to the manufacturing sector”.

It also recommends greater energy diversification, away from coal and gas and towards renewable sources such as solar, wind and green hydrogen.

“Such a transition is a necessary condition for Australia becoming a global superpower in the generation of green energy,” the report says.

According to SA’s Department of Energy and Mining, SA is on track to reach net 100 per cent renewable energy by 2030. More than 50 per cent of SA’s current energy mix is from renewable sources.

Premier Steven Marshall’s Hydrogen Action Plan will scale up renewable hydrogen production and identify ideal locations for facilities and infrastructure.
SA Labor in March revealed its signature $593 Hydrogen Jobs Plan, including the proposed construction of a 200MW hydrogen power station.

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