Now is the time to invest in essential skills, innovation and freight infrastructure for Australian manufacturing.
Australian manufacturing is ailing under this Government. Between 2000 and 2004, 50,000 jobs have disappeared in manufacturing. Recent figures have shown that manufacturing growth continues to decline, now reaching record lows.
The trend in manufacturing exports is also on the way down. From being a main driver of export growth under Labor in the 1990s, manufacturing is now struggling to build export markets. Export volumes in the early 1990s rose by 12.5 per cent a year. Since 2000 growth in manufactured exports has slowed to 3.8 per cent a year.
Between 2001 and 2003 the value of our manufactured exports fell by more than $7.8 billion. The share of Australian manufactured goods sold overseas has fallen from 26 percent to 21 percent.
Labor calls on the Prime Minister to look beyond the short term for once and to invest in a future after he has left Parliament. The Howard Government must seize the opportunity to assist the development of Australian manufacturing across the board.
Contact: Jake Winter – 0418 488 295 or 02 6277 3334
