Coronavirus: Team Australia rallies behind local products

Australians are banding together on social media to support locally made products — in groups attracting more than a million members.

Australian Made Products group creator James Bennett and his 12-year-old daughter, Chloe.

Australians are banding together on social media to help locally made products survive natural disasters and the coronavirus pandemic, with some groups reaching in excess of a million members.

“One night I sat down, and I just watched it go,” James Bennett, 40, said of his relatively new Facebook group, Australian Made Products, which has surpassed 1.5 million members.

He began his group in December from his home in Ballina, northern NSW.

“It was just a page I started out of frustration as there were a lot of jobs going overseas,” Mr Bennett said.

As hundreds of thousands of workers lost jobs in recent weeks, his page has grown phenomenally. At Christmas he had 5000 members, but from March 25 to March 30 Bennett watched his group grow to 1.1 million followers in a matter of days.

“Through that week I was spending probably 15 to 16 hours a day and still falling behind,” he said of his role as administrator to the group.

With the help of a friend and his 12-year-old autistic daughter, Chloe, he monitors member posts and comments.

One post within the group for Kyvalley Farms Milk was shared more than 10,000 times. A post highlighting Newly Distillery’s Fairy Floss Vodka garnered 20,000 likes. It’s been “website crashes for one, record sales for another,” he said.

One clothing company that had stood down workers became inundated with orders after he shared a post on their behalf. Staff were called back to work the next day, he said.

Mr Bennett said some companies “have been generous to provide a small reward”.

Australian Made Products joins several social media accounts, including Spend With Them, an Instagram account started on the NSW south coast by burns victim, author and motivational speak Turia Pitt and Grace McBridein. It highlights products made in bushfire-ravaged regions.

Turia Pitt at 24 is one of Australia’s most admired and widely recognised people. Picture: Rohan Kelly

The project was modelled off an Instagram account started in October called Buy From The Bush, which was created to support farmers who were affected by drought.

On Friday Mr Bennett began an online petition to have Coles, IGA and Woolworths supermarkets stock an “Australian made” aisle. It had gathered 5000 signatures as of Sunday.

“The support that I’ve seen Australians give small businesses has been astronomical and I hope we continue to do so,” he said. “I just hope this isn’t just a phase.”