Reel loss: Alvey joins long list of manufacturers no longer with us

The closure of 102-year-old Alvey Reels underscores the parlous state of our manufacturing sector that will only get worse if we don’t get serious about supporting Australian-made products.

Bruce Alvey with one of the no nonsense, unbreakable, timeless masterpieces, the Alvey Reel, Carol Park. Photographer: Liam Kidston.

ALVEY Reels will soon join a long list of iconic Australian manufacturers to be lost in the mist of time. Why did it happen?

Your diarist wonders whether a country like Germany or the United States would have allowed such a historic manufacturing firm to go under. I doubt it.

City Beat readers will recall that the 102-year-old fishing equipment business had a near-death experience a couple of years back.

In 2017, the company said it would close its doors because of rising costs but was rescued by local investor Con Athans, who had plans to expand the business overseas.

But Athans this week admitted labour shortages and supply chain issues due to Covid-19 had defeated his good intentions. It was just too expensive to manufacture in Australia even without the added cost pressure caused by the pandemic.

Will another white knight emerge for Alvey? It’s doubtful despite the love Queenslanders have for the brand.

Bruce Alvey, the great grandson of the founder Charles Alvey, says that in our throwaway society there is little regard for companies manufacturing a product that could last a lifetime. “In some way we probably made our reels too well,” Alvey says.

The issue goes beyond Alvey. Holden, Electrolux, Victa and Bonds are just a few Australian products no longer made on these shores Our new PM Anthony Albanese needs to make reinvigorating Australia manufacturing top of his agenda.

Bruce Alvey is the great grandson of the Alvey Reels founder Charles Alvey.

DISEASE CONTROL

SOUTHEAST Queensland could become home to an Australasian and South Pacific Centre for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) under a proposal announced this month by Maha Sinnathamby’s Springfield City Group.

The plan, developed by former Director-General of Queensland Health and former Vice Chancellor of Bond University Dr Rob Stable, will be presented to the Federal and State Governments in coming weeks.

“The last two years have reinforced the importance of disease control and prevention in all parts of the world,” says Stable. “The establishment of such a facility will consolidate our relations with our near neighbours and provide an invaluable service to our region.”

Australia remains the only OECD member without an independent centre for disease control. Southeast Queensland is the ideal location because of our proximity to the Pacific and our reputation for medical research excellence. The proposed CDC, a critical technologies initiative, would collect data from the Asia Pacific and provide independent advice to Federal and State Governments as well as regional neighbours.

Springfield City Group founder and chairman Maha Sinnathamby.

CLEM FUNDRAISER

A LOT of good is still being done in the name of late Lord Mayor Clem Jones. The Clem Jones Centre for Ageing Dementia Research (CJCADR) at the Queensland Brain Institute will hold a big shindig this Friday to raise funds for further investigation into the illness.

The evening at Hillstone St Lucia features entertainment from the Brisbane Jazz Orchestra, led by Rob Anders, award-winning vocalist Ingrid James and Chilean percussionist Pablo Matus. About 170 people are booked for the event that is being sponsored by Lexus, Morgans and McKinneys Jewellers. Researchers at CJCADR are making significant headway into understanding the underlying neurological mechanisms of the devastating disease.

Guests will include Lexus of Brisbane Group marketing manager Peter Thomas,

Morgans Stockbroking senior investment advisor Michael Roe, McKinneys Jewellers’ Margot McKinney, Clem Jones Foundation chair David Muir and HeartFit’s Bruce Collins.

Clem Jones, Lord Mayor of Brisbane (1961-1975).