New report urges government to urgently save manufacturing, “Australia’s most endangered industry”

Australia’s dig & ship obsession, a report by climate tech startup Conry Tech released on Wednesday and tracking the Occupation (OCCP) and Industry (INDP) data from every Australian census since 2006, contends that “no Australian industry has shrunk more than manufacturing” over those years.

Conry Tech was founded by Sam Ringwaldt and Ron Conry. The latter invented the Turbocor, an energy-efficient compressor that dominates its market and which Conry said he had to move overseas to commercialise.

In a statement on its report, Conry Tech said that mining employment had doubled since 2006, while manufacturing employment had declined by 25 per cent.

Over the period, food and beverage and clothing industries had grown slightly, and “primarily jobs in industrial manufacturing” had disappeared.

“Some of the most desperately needed manufacturing jobs in Australia, essential for product development and transformation of the energy grid, have virtually disappeared,” reads the statement from Conry Tech.

“For instance, toolmakers and engineering pattern makers have decreased by 70%. There are only 2220 left in Australia.”

“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,” said Ringwaldt.

“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.”

The report can be read here.

Picture: credit Kuka