Australian companies say Prime Minister Anthony Albanese’s plan to sink billions of dollars into clean energy, batteries and critical minerals would give them a fighting chance to compete internationally, even as a senior economist warns the government’s “manufacturing fetishism” will leave the country poorer.
Redflow chief executive Tim Harris said government support was needed to reverse the trend of Australian technology feeding offshore manufacturing.“The Australian government is doing the right thing. We shouldn’t hide from the fact that if Australia wants to create good, well-paying, valued jobs in the renewable energy sector, it’s going to compete on that basis,” Harris told this masthead.
Albanese said Australia must establish a scheme to capture a slice of the economic growth on offer from clean technologies, which including green metals, hydrogen, batteries, solar panels and wind turbines. Massive funds are already on offer in the US, EU, Canada, Japan and South Korea.“All these countries are investing in their industrial base, their manufacturing capability and their economic sovereignty,” Albanese said in a speech to the Queensland Media Club on Thursday.
“Maybe it’s not old-fashioned protectionism, but we’re going to see taxes and subsidies to induce resources move from one part of the economy to manufacturing, and that’s going to make us poorer,” he said. While details of the government’s plan have not yet been released, industry insiders expect the first round of funding to focus on critical minerals, offering a mix of grants as well as production credits for business that enter production - to be redeemed in the form of tax breaks.