Recent redundancies at Holden have sparked debate over the need for a revised “industry policy”: but is this really the way forward?
AAP/Andrew Brownbill
The recent GM-Holden redundancies have provoked much comment, in many cases appealing for both state and federal governments to find solutions. But can government solve this dilemma, or is it a (big…
Foxconn will hold its first-ever democratic labour union election but freedom of association in China remains limited.
AAP Pictures
Apple’s China-based contractor, Foxconn, is following a trend of increasing unionisation at transnational corporations in China by holding its first-ever democratic labour union elections.
As reported…
Labor’s jobs package provides its future direction for industry for the first time; but can it deliver, and more importantly, will it survive political opposition?
AAP
Labor has finally delivered the detail of its much-awaited vision for shaping Australian industry beyond the mining boom.
But will it deliver? In a two part series, UWA Professor Tim Mazzarol examines…
Obama has unveilled two key trade treaties designed to reaffirm America’s place as the world’s leading nation – but many aspects of the treaties run counter to its social development stances.
US President Barack Obama’s State of the Union plan to boost American exports and grow American jobs centres around two key regional trade agreements: the Trans-Pacific Partnership (TPP) and the Trans…
Assistive robots could help save Australia’s beleaguered manufacturing industry.
CSIRO
Amid the gloom about the prospects for manufacturing in Australia — and the difficulties facing an economy dominated by small businesses (nearly 90% of Australian manufacturing capacity) — there is some…
Prepare for more handouts: the taxpayer is the meat in the sandwich between politicians and manuocrats – those who believe the source of all our wealth is manufacturing.
AAP
The battleground between business, taxpayers and government for 2013 is taking shape. It is manufacturing and jobs.
On Wednesday, building materials company Boral announced at least 700 job cuts in Australia…
We agree Australia’s productivity has to improve: plotting the trajectory from the macro to the micro will be big future themes of debate in the coming year.
AAP
Amid the emerging decline in Australia’s terms of trade and drop in commodity prices, there is general consensus among most commentators that improving Australia’s productivity is critical.
Looking back…
Instead of relying on unconditional government largess, car companies in Australia should be asked to provide guarantees.
AAP
A famous quote from Albert Einstein states that doing the same thing over and over again and expecting different results is insanity.
Yet this is exactly what has occurred in the car industry which has…
Trade minister Craig Emerson met with India’s minister for Commerce and Industry Dr Anand Sharma at free trade talks earlier this year – but don’t expect trading links to accelerate in the next decade.
Ongoing efforts on the part of the Australian government to deepen ties with India are well known. The recent Asian Century White Paper frequently couples China and India in its analyses, which suggests…
Three recent reports into productivity highlight differing issues but agree that targeting industrial reform is not the key to lifting outputs.
Image sourced from www.shutterstock.com
The Australian Government’s recently released white paper on Australia in the Asian Century identified productivity as one of five key areas for action, at a time when we are engaged in a major national…
The Asian Century will present Australia with economic opportunities, as well as significant challenges.
shutterstock
By 2025, Asia will account for nearly half of world output. Even under conservative growth scenarios, three out of the world’s five largest economies will be in Asia.
By the same year, income per person…
The banks have pulled the plug on loss-making company Gunns after it announced a $904 million loss.
Image from www.shutterstock.com
Forestry company Gunns has been entered into voluntary administration after posting a $904 million loss today.
Tough economic conditions, including a high Australian dollar and falling woodchip prices…
The closure of BlueScope’s no 6 Blast Furnace at Port Kembla was an acknowledgement that Australia simply cannot compete with our cheaper Asian rivals.
The $1 billion dollar annual loss announced by BlueScope Steel confirmed what is common knowledge: the Australian steel industry is in crisis and fighting for survival. The latest statistics show that…
The Manufacturing Taskforce has delivered 41 recommendations across all levels of of the economy: but the sheer breadth may prove hardest to implement.
AAP
The recently released Report of the Non-Government Members of the Prime Minister’s Manufacturing Task Force provides a comprehensive and well-considered blueprint for the future of Australia’s manufacturing…
Manufacturing has a future in Australia – but only if it can reposition itself up the global value chain.
Can anything new be said about the future of manufacturing in Australia?
Yesterday’s report, Smarter Manufacturing for a Smarter Australia submitted yesterday to Prime Minister Julia Gillard, is a detailed…
Australia’s unique manufacturing DNA – comprised of tens of thousands of small-to-medium enterprises – means that we must forge our own path to innovation.
DNA Art Online
As the manufacturing landscape shifts in response to new economic and social pressures, Australia is looking for an answer to the question: What does the future look like for Australian manufacturing…
Australia shouldn’t have a car industry based on corporate welfare.
Australia shouldn’t have a motor car industry – well not an industry dependent on corporate welfare. Many Australians struggle with that idea – after all shouldn’t we be “making stuff”? When former prime…
Ford Australia has announced it will cut 440 Victorian jobs by November this year.
AAP
Ford’s announcement on Tuesday of 440 job cuts is the culmination of almost 40 years of automotive industry policy failure.
Ford will slash 15% of its workforce and cut production by 29%, as the industry…
Embracing an Australia that makes things doesn’t mean taking backwards steps.
Pizzodisevo/Flickr
WHAT IS AUSTRALIA FOR? Australia is no longer small, remote or isolated. It’s time to ask What Is Australia For?, and to acknowledge the wealth of resources we have beyond mining. Over the next two weeks…
Associated with sexy, outdoor aesthetic, Australia’s surfboard culture defines a way of life. But it is in danger of disappearing?
Flickr/Desobry23
Last October surfboard company BASE abruptly closed its factory on the Gold Coast, with the direct loss of 30 jobs. Since then, nearby D’Arcy Surfboards has announced it is shedding workers and downsizing…
Toyota has culled 350 workers from its Altona plant, based on an assessment system that rated individuals' performance.
AAP
As if losing their jobs wasn’t bad enough in a contracting local economy, the 350 laid-off workers from the Toyota plant in Altona, also leave with the stigma of being a “low-productivity” worker or, colloquially…
Australia can learn from US companies such as Mattell about keeping brands Australian, while manufacturing products in China.
EPA/Wilson Wen
AUSTRALIA IN THE ASIAN CENTURY – A series examining Australia’s role in the rapidly transforming Asian region. Delivered in partnership with the Australian government.
In this instalment, Dr Richard Pomfret…
The future health of Australian manufacturing depends on bridging the gap between research organisations and business.
AAP
As we are only too aware, manufacturing in Australia is currently under a great deal of pressure, operating in a relatively high cost environment, facing significant international competition and taking…
Driving technology: Prime Minister Julia Gillard has outlined a $275 million package to keep Holden in Australia.
AAP
Carmaker Holden will receive a $275 million government package, in return for committing to stay in Australia until 2022 and promising it will invest $1 billion.
Phillip Toner, senior research fellow…
Unveiled: from the fanfare of the new Camry model last year, Toyota has axed 350 jobs this week.
AAP
A week after Toyota announced redundancies at its Altona plant in Melbourne, Holden confirmed the loss of 100 casual jobs at its manufacturing plant in Adelaide. Holden chief Mike Devereux said the cuts…
Times have changed; the car industry needs to catch up.
aussiefordadverts/Flickr
The Australian Government has been bailing out automotive manufacturers since 1985. Both that year’s Button Plan and the 2008 Bracks Report recommended restructure and additional funding. But unless the…
The automotive industry is bearing the brunt of a strong Australian dollar.
AAP
Toyota’s announcement yesterday that it will shed 350 jobs at its plant in Altona has been blamed on the strength of the Australian dollar, which some commentators say is having a significant impact on…
Australia’s economy has outgrown car manufacturing, so industry subsidies are pointless.
AAP
It is no coincidence the federal government is increasing its existing multi-billion dollar subsidies to the car industry at the same time it is increasing the tax burden on the mining sector.
Price signals…
Would Australia’s automotive industry survive without government assistance?
The Federal Government will contribute millions of dollars to Australian car manufacturers Holden and Ford in an effort to keep Australia’s automotive sector afloat.
The government will add $34 million…
Australia needs to have a serious and healthy debate on what the “Australian made” brand represents.
iStockphoto/Hamza Bendemra
Reports suggesting Holden is considering phasing out major parts of the manufacturing chain for the iconic Commodore points to a worrying trend of off-shoring the very skills manufacturing needs in order…
The future of Australia’s manufacturing sector will be the focus of today’s Jobs Summit.
AAP
Hot on the heels of the Tax Forum in Canberra is today’s Jobs Summit, which is expected to concentrate on the pressing issues facing manufacturing.
Dean of UTS Business School Professor Roy Green, who…
Apple’s has concentrated on two aspects of the value chain – design and service – to take command of its manufacturing chain.
AAP
Despite the rhetoric that Australian manufacturing is in crisis, is it really time to write it off?
In this Q&A, Professor Sir Mike Gregory, Head of the Manufacturing and Management Division at the…
Record terms of trade have masked dropping productivity growth – until now.
AAP
What is to be done about Australia’s deteriorating productivity performance?
It’s by no means inconceivable that the answer to this question could be “nothing”.
Historical precedent strongly suggests…
Don Argus’s focus on industrial relations overlooks the real issues behind slowing productivity growth.
AAP
Former BHP Billiton Chairman Don Argus has blamed inflexible industrial relations laws for Australia’s lagging productivity, describing the Gillard Government’s economic reform agenda as “lazy”.
Argus…
People employed in the mining industry are enjoying the boom, but what about the rest of us?
AAP
One of the most interesting features of the mining boom is the way that it is opening up old, and unresolved, political and policy debates in Australia.
Do we trust that the benefits to the small group…
Universities must ensure that their discoveries are put into practice.
AAP
Over the last few weeks, the cost of upheaval in the manufacturing sector has become ever more visible.
BlueScope Steel is to shed 1,000 employees while OneSteel has announced the loss of 400 manufacturing…
Calls by senior union figures Paul Howes and Dave Oliver for an inquiry into manufacturing have fallen on deaf ears.
AAP
Does manufacturing have a future in Australia?
This question has now been brought sharply into focus, as industry leaders and unions pressure the Federal Government to consider new measures to safeguard…
Out of the box: an export tax could be combined with the Federal Government proposed resources tax.
AAP
Australia’s lagging manufacturing sector faced thorough scrutiny last week, amid calls for more government support for local industries following BlueScope Steel’s $1 billion loss and its decision to sack…
Are Ministers Kim Carr and Martin Ferguson are wasting their time calling for industry to buy Australian?
AAP
The Federal Government’s new Buy Australian campaign
comes amid growing concern that further layoffs will follow the loss of 1000 BlueScope jobs and that the mining boom is crushing manufacturing.
But…
BlueScope has fallen victim to a changing export market, high Australian dollar and gradual structural shift to free trade policies.
AAP
Once upon a time, 30 years ago, when we still thought the steel industry was an endless and bottomless well for economic growth and employment, many of us also believed in industry policy, corporate responsibility…
Australia needs to further embrace advanced manufacturing.
aap
Sometimes there’s nothing like timing to really hammer a point home. The day after manufacturing expert Dan Swinney, Chief executive of the Chicago Manufacturing Renaissance Council, spoke in Victorian…
Manufacturers may be forced to accept profit margins will continue to narrow.
The Australian dollar has been striking new post-float highs against the US dollar in recent weeks, and according to a number of prominent market economists could reach US$1.10 before the end of this year…
