Australian-made almost a thing of the past as manufacturing shuts

AUSTRALIAN-MADE used to be as common as snags and thongs but homegrown products will fast become a memory if we don't get smart.

AUSTRALIAN-MADE used to be as common as snags and thongs but homegrown products are fast becoming a faded memory.

After Holden, Ford and most likely Toyota leave, Australia will be left with a manufacturing industry based on machinery and equipment, metal products, food, beverage and tobacco and petroleum, coal, chemical and rubber products.

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The only 'icons' we can still call Australian-made include Willow eskies, Clipsal electricals, Kelloggs breakfast cereals, BlueScope Steel, Electrolux, Australian Paper (Reflex) and Sealy Australia.

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Manufacturing used to employ one in four Australian workers but now it employs less than one in ten, or 921,000 people.

Manufacturing jobs are expected to shrink 9 per cent in the five years to 2017, Australian government figures show - the worst performing industry in the country.

Manufacturing Skills Australia CEO Bob Paton said the industry will continue it's longstanding decline in jobs but believes there is a future for highly skilled workers.

"The future will not be what it was. We will need people with higher degrees of innovation and critical thinking skills, science, technology, engineering and maths skills," he said.

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"It won't be for someone who doesn't feel like learning anything past school and will just go and get a job in a factory. We won't have many of those jobs left."

Mr Paton said we have a relatively well educated workforce, stable government and immediately access to energy - something Australia need to take further advantage of.

"Our strong points are that we can produce applied technology for specific and niche areas that are of high quality and reliability," he said.

Our inflated Australian dollar and relatively high wages mean we can't compete on cheap, mass-produced products - China and India beat us hands down.

News_Rich_Media: Holden Chairman Mike Devereux announces Holden will be ceasing manufacturing operations in Australia by the end of 2017.

Sydney University Workplace Research Centre direct John Buchanan said the future is in the high-end products.

"There is a future in engineering around agriculture and the growing health sector as well we services to mining," he said.

"The Australian government can help manufacturing by supporting research and development and novel approaches to the engineering workforce and career paths.

"But industry has to take responsibility for this you can't expect government to do all this. Manufacturers have been pretty flat footed compared to the agricultural sector."

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