"Australia's Dig & Ship Obsession" - Report on manufacturing decline
PRESS RELEASE
1 in 4 Australian manufacturing jobs has disappeared since 2006, finds Conry Tech report
Start-up urges Government to save Australia’s most endangered industry
Melbourne, 31st May 2023 – Australian climate tech start-up, Conry Tech, has published a new report ‘Australia’s dig & ship obsession’. The report covers the swift and absolute decline of the Australian manufacturing sector and simultaneous rise of the mining industry. It focuses on the need to abandon a “dig & ship mentality” which was recently underscored by the trade deal to export Australia’s critical minerals for US electric vehicle battery manufacturing. The report demonstrates that no Australian industry has shrunk more than manufacturing in the last 15yrs – with some urgently needed manufacturing occupations declining by 70%. Meanwhile mining industry jobs have doubled. Conry Tech’s figures are based on analysis of every Australian census since 2006 and the detailed Occupation (OCCP) and Industry (INDP) data therein.
With no mention of the manufacturing sector in the latest federal budget and the National Reconstruction Fund yet to allocate any financial support, Conry Tech is urging the Government to act immediately to save “Australia’s most endangered industry”. The report also says that a stronger manufacturing sector is needed to build the infrastructure and products needed for a net-zero economy, and to avoid more of the isolation and supply disruption Australia has experienced since the pandemic.
Key findings from the report include:
The number of mining industry jobs has doubled since 2006 (101% increase), while one in four manufacturing jobs has disappeared (25% decrease)
For every new mining job created in Australia, we are losing 2.5 manufacturing (approx. +100,000 mining jobs and -250,000 manufacturing jobs)
No Australian industry has declined more than manufacturing in the last 15yrs. Of the 8.8m individuals whose occupation/industry could be confirmed in the 2006 census, 10.7% were employed in the manufacturing industry. In the 2021 census, this number fell to 6.2%
Western Australia increased its number of mining industry jobs by 40,000 between 2006-2021, more than any other state (a +153% increase). New South Wales (-67,000) and Victoria (-65,000) have lost the most manufacturing jobs
Manufacturing jobs in food, beverage and clothing industries have increased slightly in this period, it is primarily jobs in industrial manufacturing that have been lost
Some of the most desperately needed manufacturing jobs in Australia, essential for product development and transformation of the energy grid, have virtually disappeared. For instance, toolmakers and engineering pattern makers have decreased by 70%. There are only 2220 left in Australia.
In the 2000s, Conry Tech’s co-founder, Ron Conry, set up multiple factories in the US and Canada because he couldn’t access financial investment in Australia. These sites created hundreds of jobs and added billions of dollars to the North American economy. Now that he has returned to Australia, the team wants to create manufacturing jobs here for its super energy efficient air-conditioning units which can cut the energy use / power bills of aircon by 40% - which is one of the biggest consumers of energy in Australia.
“Australia's obsession to dig and ship is short-changing the country and slowly burying the manufacturing industry,” said Sam Ringwaldt, CEO and co-founder of Conry Tech. “There is a major disconnect between the resources and talent available in Australia, and what we are doing with it all. Once Australian raw materials are out of the ground, we export them to China, Japan, South Korea, and the US and rely on them to make all the high value consumer products we import and purchase.
“The country and successive governments have been stuck in this “dig and ship” mentality for years. The new US trade deal proves that little has changed in this regard. It is incredibly short-sighted, and we must think bigger than raw exports. We have the world’s largest supply of lithium and as the world pivots to renewable energy, EVs, and the electrification of everything, Australia has a once in a generation opportunity to lead the rest of the world rather than follow. The Australian Government needs to adopt a dig, make, then ship mentality and act urgently to save Australia’s most endangered industry. We cannot allow this historically strong industry to die. We will never manufacture commodity products to the same scale as countries like China, but we must invest in innovation and tech breakthroughs. Reinvigorating this part of Australian manufacturing will boost and futureproof the national economy.
“We know first-hand that Australia is a hard place for manufacturing, and we were forced to take our last business to North America to get it off the ground. This time around, we want to be successful in Australia. We want to create manufacturing jobs in Australia, for Australians.”
Methodology
To create this report, Conry Tech analysed Occupation (OCCP) and Industry (INDP) data from every Australian census since 2006. We tracked the number of Australians entering and leaving 220 industries such as INDP 1314 gold ore mining, as well as 36 occupations such as OCCP 3232 metal fitter/ machinist.
As the Australian population has grown, so too has the number of people in full-time employment. The 2006 Australian Census categorised the occupation and industry of 8,800,000 people, a figure which rose by 30% in 2021 (to 11,500,000 people). However, some sectors have grown disproportionately during this period while other critical sectors have plateaued or even declined.
As well as high-level national data, we have compared the figures by state/territory. This gives us a detailed macro and micro understanding on the state of mining and manufacturing jobs in the country. It helps us understand how these industries have evolved over the last 15 years and the challenges facing Australia as it looks to bolster its manufacturing sector once more.
About Conry Tech
Based in Melbourne, Conry Tech is a climate tech and HVAC innovator founded by Ron Conry and Sam Ringwaldt. Conry Tech is on a mission to save over a gigaton of Co2 emissions created by heating and cooling. Established in 2020, it is reinventing air-conditioning to make comfort sustainable, slash emissions, conserve energy , decarbonise the built environment, and enable a rapid transition to clean energy.
To read the full report - click here.