This is our time Australia – it’s our time to step up, take the stage and stand in the global spotlight. Right now, we have an opportunity to show the world that we manufacture quality.
Manufacturing is important, it forms the framework of our economy, our recovery and our economic future.
For many years the Australian Manufacturing industry has had to compete with the increasingly lower prices offered by overseas markets. In October, Prime Minister Scott Morrison announced a new $1.5 billion plan to fund Australian Manufacturing over the next four years to help the industry become more globally competitive. At the time he said, “We make things in Australia. We do it well. We need to keep making things in Australia.”
Indeed, we do need to keep manufacturing in Australia. When the world wants products they can trust, products that are safe and produced under strict regulations where do they turn? We know we can trust Australian Made to deliver safely manufactured goods and products that meet strict regulations.
When we see the Australian Made symbol, we instinctively know that the products are created in a country where people are paid a fair wage for a fair day’s work; we know that workers are protected and safe while they create products that are equal to or better than anything produced anywhere else in the world.
As we look to grow our economy, we must encourage and support each other as Australians in business. In the same framework that we believe in “mateship, now is the time to support Australian business as a mate and for every Australian business to support each other where they can.
What does that mean? It means, that as SMEs it is incumbent on us to look at local options for supply, we must work with local businesses and support the locals where we can.
Where are we sourcing the basic raw materials to make the “things” the Prime Minister said we are so good at making? We must act with integrity and toe the line at every single step in the process; seeking out and establishing relationships with local suppliers is critical to ensure the manufacturing is all-Australian Made.
In my business, we source the materials to create our packaging from ethical and sustainable suppliers who are based right here in Queensland – we’ve created our own eco system of support and it works.
Many small business owners just don’t know where to start. Just start and think about a plan, build a strategy you can implement. As a small-business owner, you can help support the Australian Manufacturing Industry and play your part in the rebuilding of the Australian economy by:
- Build relationships: Supporting local business and Australian Made does not mean you have to sever your relationships with your existing overseas suppliers. Think about how you can maintain your own form of “small-business diplomacy”.
- Pick up the phone: Most Small-Mid Sized Australian manufacturing businesses work on a project-by-project basis and that means we are flexible. Ring us and ask to talk to us about what your existing deal is and how we might be able to work with you.
- Think quality and safety: Australian manufacturing standards are among the most stringent in the world – it means you are guaranteed high quality products that are safe for you and your customers.
We have everything we need to be a global player, a successful competitor and a powerhouse of manufacturing right here in Australia. We just need to believe in ourselves and support our mates at every step of the process.
Nina Nguyen, Founder, Pakko
