Five steps to save Australia's manufacturing from collapse
A leading manufacturer shipping to 45 nations believes Australia can lead advanced production again – but only if five crucial changes are made.
Australia has spent too long lamenting the end of car manufacturing, the decline of mass production, and jobs that went offshore. But while we’ve focused on the past, world-class manufacturing has quietly thrived – even in Victoria, the most expensive state to do business.
At ANCA, we’re proof that Australian manufacturing not only survives – it competes and wins globally. From our base in Melbourne, we design and build CNC grinding machines – the machines that make the tools that make everything else. Exported to more than 45 countries, our products rival those from Switzerland, Germany, the US and Japan.
We’ve led through innovation, not low cost – launching the world’s first fully automated tool-grinding cell, AIMS, and proving that success depends on being first with technology.
Our experience isn’t unique. Across the country, Australian companies are advancing in automation, robotics, and advanced materials – from hi-tech start-ups to precision engineers. Our colleagues at ANCA Motion recently met one of the world’s largest manufacturers – Foxcon – to discuss control systems for humanoid robots. It’s proof that Australian know-how can shape the global future of manufacturing.
Our machine shop, among the nation’s most precise, shows what sovereign capability looks like. During COVID-19, we joined a consortium to produce ventilators locally when global supply chains failed. That depth of skill – built over 50 years and sustained through apprenticeships – gives Australia the potential to lead in advanced manufacturing if the right conditions exist.
‘15 years’: Last chance to save Aus way of life
‘It’s madness’: Australian executive’s plea
Yet it’s happening despite the system, not because of it.
Manufacturing’s share of GDP has fallen from about 13 per cent in 1990 to just 5.5 per cent today. While others have doubled down on industrial strategy and automation, Australia’s competitiveness has slipped.
China now has around 470 industrial robots per 10,000 manufacturing workers, Japan about 419 – while Australia’s figure isn’t even published, the automation gap is clear.
Meanwhile, the regulatory burden keeps rising.
Federal restrictions have increased by more than 400 per cent since the late 1970s, surging again after 2000. These aren’t abstract numbers – they mean higher costs, slower decisions and less innovation.
The Business Council of Australia recently confirmed Victoria as the most expensive place to do business. Energy prices, regulatory duplication and inflexible policies make it harder each year to compete. At the same time, the slow progress of the EU – Australia
Free Trade Agreement risks losing a chance to access markets that value innovation and quality – areas where Australia excels.
If we want a thriving manufacturing sector in 2035, not one struggling to survive, we must stop looking back and start planning forward – setting clear national priorities and aligning policy with potential.
That’s why ANCA supports the swift finalisation of the EU – Australia Free Trade Agreement – a chance to expand export access and strengthen manufacturing through collaboration among middle powers. For exporters like us, this agreement would catalyse growth, opening new markets and levelling a geography-tilted playing field.
If we’re serious about an industrial base that lasts beyond election cycles, we need more than rhetoric. We need direction – urgently.
Five steps to help Australian manufacturing compete and grow
1. Mandate a national preference – and enforce it Introduce a “Made in Australia” rule for public contracts, requiring at least 30 per cent local content. Every major economy – the US, China, India – does this. It builds capability, secures jobs, and strengthens supply chains.
2. Remove structural drag on competitiveness, streamline regulation and cut compliance costs by 20 per cent. Simplifying overlapping state and federal rules would lift productivity and attract investment.
3. Expedite access to overseas markets Finalise the EU – Australia Free Trade Agreement to open high-value markets that reward innovation and quality. Trade deals aren’t handouts – they’re growth enablers.
4. Back strategic capability, not just resources Australia’s challenge isn’t extracting rare earths – it’s processing them. The West outsourced this expertise and must rebuild it. With our strengths in precision engineering and advanced manufacturing, we can capture that value here.
5. Reconnect government and business Establish a national roundtable where manufacturers and policymakers collaborate to identify Australia’s competitive strengths and focus areas for 2035 – in advanced manufacturing, defence, energy systems and automation – and create a clear national road map. We’re happy to host it.
The myth that Australian manufacturing can’t compete is outdated and damaging. We already are – and we’re winning. With the right focus, policy and partnerships, we can do much more.
The question isn’t whether Australia can make things again. It’s whether we choose to.
Martin U. Ripple is the Chief Executive Officer of ANCA Group
This article is part of the Back Australia series, which was supported by Australian Made Campaign, Harvey Norman, Westpac, Bunnings, Coles, TechnologyOne, REA Group, Cadbury, R.M.Williams, Qantas, Vodafone and BHP.
Originally published as Five steps to save Australia's manufacturing from collapse
Kids sunscreen recalled over safety fears
