Media Statement - 14th September 2007
A Rudd Labor Government will commit $12 million to establish a Manufacturing Centre on Tasmania’s North West Coast and build stronger links between local manufacturers and research and development expertise.
Through the Manufacturing Centre, Tasmania’s 2,000 small and medium sized manufacturers will be able to get help to become more productive and more competitive – building new markets and boosting their export readiness.
Tasmania’s Manufacturing Centre will form part of an Australia-wide $100 million Manufacturing Network, giving Tasmanian manufacturers – and especially those on the North West Coast – access to a wide range of expertise and facilities.
The Manufacturing Centre will work directly with manufacturing businesses to help them improve their innovative capacity.
Through the Centre, Tasmanian companies will get hands on support, such as:
- benchmarking of business processes against best practice and support to manage the organisational challenges of small business growth;
- help with finding and implementing the latest technology to make products more efficiently;
access to cutting edge research and to prototyping and testing facilities to turn great ideas into innovative products; and - assistance to cut through red tape to access other government programs.
The Centre will also develop strong research and innovation links to bring expertise into Tasmania. In particular, the Manufacturing Centre will develop partnerships with Tasmanian and mainland research centres, such as the CSIRO’s Food Science Australia.
The North West Coast was selected because of its proud manufacturing tradition in key sectors of Tasmania’s economy such as agriculture, horticulture, mining, forestry, paper making, dairying, fishing, beef production and food processing.
The region is home to a diverse manufacturing industry with an annual turnover of around $1.5 billion.
Around 20,000 people are employed in manufacturing in Tasmania – 5,000 in the North West alone. That’s more than one in every seven families in the North West whose futures rely on manufacturers maintaining their productivity and competitiveness through innovation.
The Manufacturing Centre is part of Labor’s positive commitment to working in partnership with Tasmanian industry for a prosperous future.
In line with that partnership, Labor will consult further with Tasmanian manufacturers and local organisations, such as the Cradle Coast Authority, to determine the exact location and focus of the Centre.
The Cradle Coast Authority’s Food Industry Value-Adding report recommended the establishment of a “Food Innovation Centre and industry network to help food businesses in the region access information, technology, research and seed funding to develop innovative products and markets”. It is envisaged that Labor’s Manufacturing Centre will meet this identified need.
Unlike the Howard Government, Labor is committed to fresh ideas for Australian manufacturing to sustain our prosperity beyond the mining boom.