Manufacturing is the cornerstone of Greater Geelong’s, Victoria’s, and Australia’s economy. It drives continuous innovation, creates high-value jobs, and underpins the sovereign supply chain resilience essential for our national prosperity and global competitiveness.
As we approach the upcoming Victorian State Election, the Geelong Manufacturing Council (GMC) is proud to officially launch our Five-Pillar Advocacy Strategy. This strategic framework addresses the critical challenges facing manufacturers today while unlocking the immense opportunities of tomorrow. We are calling on all sides of politics to partner with industry and back Victorian manufacturing across five critical areas:
To encourage investment, governments must actively remove obstacles, eliminate bureaucratic duplication, and lift the heavy burden of compliance.
We call on all sides of politics to:
- remove needless industrial relations complexity like unwarranted work from home legislation.
- create industrial and employment zones that smooth compliance.
- create mechanisms that prioritise and fast-track manufacturing projects and investment.
Energy security and affordability is paramount to keeping our factories running in the face of international competition unimpeded by government prioritising emissions reduction over keeping manufacturing in Australia.
Governments must embrace all available energy options to guarantee a secure, reliable, and cheap energy supply that keeps local manufacturers globally competitive.
We must protect and create dedicated industrial habitats in our regions. Securing distinct industrial zones is vital to support manufacturers, their supply chains, and emerging clean economy initiatives like recycling and circular businesses. This must be backed by building and maintaining robust transport infrastructure, including urgent improvements to regional roads.
- Training & Skills: We need to enable TAFEs and universities to align accredited training with evolving industry profiles. We also call for targeted support for Victorian secondary schools to engage with the defence industry, alongside TAFE defence internship programs.
- Skilled Migration: Regional occupation lists must be forward-looking and informed by genuine consultation with local manufacturers to target persistent shortages.
- Attraction & Retention: Government major projects infrastructure decisions must account for their flow-on talent poaching impacts on the manufacturing workforce.
Victoria must commit to a coordinated effort to support early-stage advanced manufacturing. This means lifting R&D investment to globally competitive levels, strengthening the alignment between research institutions and industry, and providing targeted support for early-stage commercialisation and scale-up.