A country that makes things: Rethinking and broadening manufacturing

The announcement in August 2011 that BlueScope Steel were about to close one of its Port Kembla blast furnaces and cease steel exports quickly spurred public debate in Australia, not just about steel but about the very future of manufacturing in Australia. Australian Workers' Union national secretary Paul Howes thus suggested: 'The question the Australian community needs to ask itself - is do we want to be a country that still makes things? Do we want to value-­‐‑add to our natural resources, or do we want to become just one big sandpit for China and a tourism resort for North Asia?'