Geelong's Manufacturing Future: Defence and Technology Leading the Way

Geelong's manufacturing future, being constructed on the foundation of the advanced skills that the automotive industry created and the new demand that the defence industry, renewable energy sector, and the advanced manufacturing businesses that locate in the city's well-serviced industrial estates generate, represents one of the more carefully managed regional economic transitions in Australian industrial history. The combination of the TAFE and Federation University training programs that are reorienting the skills base toward the industries that are growing, and the CSIRO and the state government's industry development investment that is supporting the businesses that need the skills, creates the supply and demand alignment that economic transition requires but rarely achieves.

The defence manufacturing opportunity, driven by the AUKUS partnership's commitment to an Australian nuclear submarine capability and the associated advanced manufacturing demand, provides the most significant new manufacturing market in Australia. The Geelong manufacturing sector's capacity to contribute to the defence supply chain, providing the precision components, the advanced materials, and the systems integration that complex defence programs require, is being developed through the engagement between the defence prime contractors and the regional supply chain that programs like the Australian Industry Capability framework require.

The renewable energy manufacturing opportunity, including the potential for battery manufacturing, the component manufacturing for wind and solar installations, and the green hydrogen equipment that the energy transition requires, provides the long-term manufacturing market that Geelong's industrial infrastructure is positioned to serve if the investment in skills, equipment, and supply chain development is made. The state government's renewable energy industry development program has identified Geelong as a priority location for renewable energy manufacturing due to the industrial land, the workforce, and the port access that the sector requires.

The food manufacturing sector in Geelong, including the Bega Cheese manufacturing at Strathmerton and the food processing businesses that the Geelong region's agricultural hinterland supplies, provides the industry that has been most successful in translating regional agricultural production into higher-value manufacturing output. The food sector's growth, driven by the premium Australian food brand in international markets and the domestic demand for value-added food products, sustains the manufacturing employment that has grown as other manufacturing sectors have contracted.

This article was compiled by AI from the sources linked above and screened before publishing. See our editorial standards.