September 30, 2021
Since the very start, the COVID-19 pandemic has been a wake-up call for Australia regarding our attitudes to manufacturing. From supermarket shelves stripped of toilet paper to the mad rush to establish local production of medical ventilators, we all got a clear lesson about the vulnerability of modern supply chains and the need for strong sovereign manufacturing capability, so that we have continued access to all the things we rely on as a society. As the pandemic has dragged on, one of the few positives to come out of the crisis was the sense that there was at last widespread public recognition that manufacturing really matters. Now new research has corroborated this, putting real numbers on how far the popular mood has swung in support of our industry. The report from the Advanced Manufacturing Growth Centre (AMGC) reveals the general public’s current perception of Australian manufacturing and its understanding of this critical industry. Comparing data from early 2019…