Not made here

Australian aviation manufacturing has mainly a niche focus on components for military and civil aircraft. Even this could be coming under pressure given the high Australian dollar and the cost of labour.

If we are not to be seen as the world’s quarry and rejoin the group of nations producing high quality goods we must look very carefully at our manufacturing base and its future. This is particularly true for aviation manufacturing.

After WWII Australia inherited an outstanding array of aviation/aerospace engineering and manufacturing skills that have gradually diminished through natural attrition and not investing enough in the ongoing skills development necessary to ensure Australia remained a first rate aviation manufacturing nation. This was a lost opportunity given Australia’s strong reliance on aviation products and services and its earlier potential to be a leading aviation country.

We can accept this position and rely on our resources exports to pay for our future aviation and aerospace needs, or we can try to rebuild our aviation manufacturing industry. It is fanciful to think that we can compete with Boeing or Airbus but there is an emerging market for tough, relatively simple utility/regional aircraft throughout Asia, the sub-continent, Africa and the South American nations.

Cessna’s Caravan and our own GA-8 Airvan are two examples of aircraft designed to operate in harsh, unimproved environments. Avionics companies are also making enormous strides with new navigation and approach products. There is no reason this country cannot play an R&D and manufacturing role as the avionics market continues to expand.

A shining export light has been the Australian contribution to the light sport market. Australian airframes, engines and avionics are used in the light sport products world-wide. The enormous effort to achieve this market penetration should not be underestimated and all involved are to be congratulated.

The concepts above depend almost entirely on having a technologically able and creative workforce that can research the international market and develop new aviation products. The aviation industry must engage current and future governments in the advantages of training a technologically skilled workforce that can manufacture the products the world market demands.

This means ensuring that high schools have curricula that entrenches sound literacy, mathematical and scientific knowledge. It means ensuring some schools have an aviation focus. It means a higher education system that fosters an interest in technological developments and the ability to bring those ideas to market in a timely and efficient manner. It means seriously encouraging investment in a manufacturing sector attuned to the needs of the 21st century.

There is a fear that if the resources boom ever busts Australia may have little to fall back on. It is while the boom is on that is the time to resurrect the manufacturing sector. It is still achievable if there is the political and the national will for it to happen. Not to do so may make the phrase, the Lucky Country, eventually sound ironic.

There is little doubt that Australia’s manufacturing base is falling behind but it is not irreversible. It is a question of how much do we want to take our place amongst leading manufacturing nations. If we do so and make it happen, we will insure ourselves against a too narrowly focussed domestic and export economy.