End of the road for Australian manufacturing sector

Since the onset of the global financial crisis in 2008, the wider Australian manufacturing sector has shed 100,000 jobs, and the forecast for the future is equally grim. It is estimated that another 100,000 jobs will be lost in the next five years.

This contraction makes one thing uncomfortably, but abundantly, clear: Australia's economic future does not lie in manufacturing.

Current economic conditions, primarily the consistently high Australian dollar, are forcing a restructure of the Australian economy.

Statistics from the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade show that one of Australia's major exports, after resources and agriculture, is trade in services. Education and tourism comprise the bulk of this, and are among the top five exports for Queensland, New South Wales, Victoria and Tasmania.

Australia's trade in this sector has grown in recent years, and this upward trend is reflected in international trade patterns.

Many states, especially developed countries, have recognised that trade in services is a burgeoning sector that offers much potential. In fact, negotiations are currently underway on the sidelines of the World Trade Organisation to progressively liberalise trade in services with the aim of promoting freer trade in the sector. Australia is involved in these negotiations. If realised, this preferential agreement would cover almost 80 per cent of world trade in services, and ensure greater access to services both here and in other states.

However, in order to embrace this opportunity and more widely, recognise Australia's full economic potential, the manufacturing sector must be left to continue on its downward trajectory. As unpalatable as it is, it does not make good economic sense to continue to bail out industries that are no longer sustainable, nor competitive. It will only cost more in the long run.

Adjusting to this emerging economic reality, especially for the estimated 50,000 workers affected by Holden's impending closure and those who continue to earn their living from the manufacturing sector, will not be easy.

But then again, change never is.

While we can remain thankful for the contribution that Holden and the wider manufacturing sector have made to our lives and our present economic position, we cannot continue to live in the economic past. A promising and prosperous future for trade in services awaits.

But what of Holden? Well, at the very least, us fans can console ourselves with the fact that Holden was, for a time, the last manufacturer standing in the perennial Holden vs. Ford rivalry. We won. The old girl's done well.