The dying trades critical to keeping Australian manufacturing alive | The Business | ABC NEWS
Australia’s manufacturing industry has been in terminal decline for decades as increased labour and energy costs, combined with worker shortages, have made local production uncompetitive with overseas options. It’s a problem the Albanese government has tried to address with its ‘Future Made in Australia’ policy, which has set aside billions to support a handful of industries, with an eye on helping Australia transition to net zero. Beyond incentives for the handful of companies that end up receiving grants, there’s another factor that needs to be addressed — keeping alive the rapidly-shrinking trades needed to keep local manufacturing up and running. Once a thriving trade, toolmaking and engineering pattern-making has been shrinking since the early 2000s, and in serious decline since the closure of the Australian automotive industry in 2017. Toolmakers and engineering pattern-makers make and repair tools, dies, jigs, fixtures and other precision parts and equipment for machine tools and other production machinery. The trades also construct full-size engineering, models for prototype developmental products and the working pattern to make parts. According to the latest Census, there are only 2,220 toolmakers and engineering pattern-makers left in Australia — that’s a 70 per cent decrease between 2006 and 2021. The toolmakers and engineering pattern-makers that are still operating in Australia are struggling to keep up with demand, resulting in long wait times and manufacturers needing to go offshore to source vital components. Industry figures say the global uncertainty triggered by US President Donald Trump’s sweeping tariffs on imports has highlighted the need for Australia to strengthen its manufacturing industry.
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