Australia is already a powerhouse in manufacturing in areas where we do well

If Labor is to be believed, only government intervention and spending billions of taxpayer dollars will enable Australia to “compete” in the new global protectionism race to build local manufacturing. But what if Australia was already competing effectively in manufacturing?

There’s iron ore magnate Twiggy Forrest’s push into green hydrogen and renewables, worth $1.14 billion (US$750 million), here and in the United States. But there are also four lithium hydroxide refineries either being built or planned: two by Albemarle, which is building two new trains at its existing Kemerton facility in Western Australia; one by IGO, which with Albemarle will use ore from the huge Greenbushes mine near Esperance; and a Wesfarmers-SQM project at Kwinana.