“Endangered industry”: Report urges government to act as manufacturing sector shrinks

Australian climate tech startup Conry Tech is urging the federal government to act immediately to save the country’s “most endangered industry”, after its research found one in four Australian manufacturing jobs has disappeared since 2006.

Conry Tech, which is based in Melbourne and was established in 2020 by Ron Conry and Sam Ringwaldt, analysed Occupation (OCCP) and Industry (INDP) data from every Australian census since 2006 to create its ‘Australia’s dig & ship obsession’ report.

The company 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.

The report focuses on the need to abandon a mining-focused “dig and ship mentality” and demonstrates that no Australian industry has shrunk more than manufacturing in the last 15 years. In fact, some urgently needed manufacturing occupations had declined by 70%, such as toolmakers and engineering pattern makers. There are only 2220 left in Australia. 

The number of mining industry jobs has doubled since 2006, which is a 101% increase, while one in four manufacturing jobs has disappeared, a decline of 25%. 

The report also found that while 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.

Conry Tech’s report argues that a stronger manufacturing sector is needed to build the infrastructure and products required for a net-zero economy, and to avoid more of the isolation and supply disruption Australia has experienced since the pandemic. 

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”. 

CEO and co-founder of Conry Tech Sam Ringwaldt said Australia’s obsession to dig and ship is short-changing the country and slowly burying the manufacturing industry.

“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,” he said.

“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.”

Ringwaldt argues the government instead needs to adopt a “dig, make, then ship” mentality.

“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.”

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. The company says these sites created hundreds of jobs and added “billions of dollars” to the North American economy. 

Upon returning to Australia, the team now wants to create manufacturing jobs here for its energy-efficient air-conditioning units, which it says can cut energy use and power bills by 40%.