By John Conway and Dougal Robertson
Finding a balance between encouraging Australia’s domestic manufacturing to ensure supply-chain security for critical sectors and not violating free-trade agreements by introducing tariffs and subsidies for ‘strategic industries’ will be a tough task for the government.
As a member of the National COVID-19 Coordination Commission, former Dow Chemical chief Andrew Liveris is tasked with developing a long-term strategy to retool Australian manufacturing. Liveris says that, in Australia, support and tax credits for research and development have basically disappeared while other countries have massive credits in place to encourage innovation and scalability. He highlights health, defence and cyber as vital sectors of the economy.
