The Carmichael Centre says Australia is in a unique position to take advantage of the global shift to electric vehicles and our extensive mining sector can help.
Their new study Rebuilding Vehicle Manufacturing in Australia says the country can make electric cars in an “environmentally and socially transformative” way by drawing on its rich mineral resources.
The report makes a lot of sense. Car manufacturing may have died out here in 2017, but the authors point to an exisiting and robust industry making components for the world—and still employing some 34,000 people.
What hasn’t lost any momentum is our resources sector, but the authors say it needs to pivot from just exporting raw commodities to one integral to value-added industries like batteries, significantly expanding their value. Much of our mining is already central to electrification, including copper, cobalt, lithium and rare earth minerals.
An Australian built electric car may be some way off, the study says, but we can still create an innovative, sustainable and lucrative industry on the way. And create tens of thousands of skilled jobs in the process.
The report recommends strong government leadership to get there, including setting up an EV Manufacturing Industry Commission and using tax incentives to encourage mining companies to partner with local manufacturing capabilities.
I think it’s a great vision. Australia already has many of the parts to make it work, but we now need to bring them together.
Take a look: Rebuilding Vehicle Manufacture in Australia: Industrial Opportunities in an Electrified Future
Cheers,
John Fennell