Manufacturing : A Key To Recovery And Growth

Jamestrong today (1 Oct 2020) welcomed the announcements surrounding the future of manufacturing contained in the Modern Manufacturing Strategy (the Strategy) which was released today by the
Prime Minister, Hon Scott Morrison MP, and the Minister for Industry, Science and Technology,
Hon Karen Andrews MP.

“As the Prime Minister said, ‘We make things in Australia. We do it well. We need to keep making
things in Australia.’ I agree and note too that manufacturing is particularly important to regional
economies and in our case, in Taree, NSW and Kyabram in Victoria,” said Mr Alex Commins,
the CEO of Jamestrong.

Manufacturing will play a key role in our recovery from COVID-19, particularly as government,
industry and the research and education sectors work in one direction to build scale in our
manufacturing sector.

“I am pleased to see that many of the matters that Jamestrong raised with the National COVID-19
Coordination Commission, including investment, R&D, skills shortages, the neglect of the supply
chain and government incentives, were addressed in the Strategy or foreshadowed in next week’s
budget.

“The Strategy identifies six priority areas and it is gratifying to see that food and beverage
manufacturing is one of those areas. I am convinced that this Strategy will help both Jamestrong
and the broader sector to become more agile, collaborative, and outward looking as we pull
together in Australia’s interest.

“We look forward to working with the government as it works with industry to draw up a plan for the
priority sectors, in our case, the food and beverage sector – including benchmarks such as jobs
created and levels of R&D and investment for each – for the next two, five and 10 years.
“While there are significant challenges ahead of us, this Strategy provides a positive and clear
roadmap for us to follow,” said Mr Commins.