Almost 4000 manufacturing jobs have disappeared across the Hunter in the past five years, one of the biggest declines in the sector anywhere in Australia.
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Australian Bureau of Statistics figures show the Hunter Valley, Newcastle and Lake Macquarie lost 3800 jobs between May 2015 and May 2019. A similar number were lost on the Central Coast.
Many of the lost jobs were associated with businesses which serviced the region's mining sector.
At the same time 600 manufacturing jobs were created in the Illawarra.
But leading manufacturers and industry groups are optimistic about the sector's potential to bounce back by capitalising on the region's transport and education links and by seizing opportunities in non-traditional areas of manufacturing.
The debate about the Hunter's manufacturing sector comes as the latest economic data shows Australia suffered its deepest economic contraction since the 1930s in the June quarter.
The Australian Bureau of Statistics confirmed the nation's first recession since 1990-1991 with the economy shrinking by 6.3 per cent over the past 12 months.
Australian Industry Group Hunter Region manager Trevor Stuart said the recent debate about the state government's decision to purchase trains and ferries from offshore sources had thrown a spotlight on the region's inability to effectively advocate for major projects.
"It's not necessarily just political but also at an industry level," he said.
"The region itself doesn't seem to have gotten any wins in the manufacturing space in the last 10 years."
"The region doesn't seem to have political support or backing. At a state level or a federal level, everything that is up for grabs, the region doesn't seem to get a win. There's lots of advocacy work that goes on but it just isn't effective. How do you measure advocacy? By outcomes."
But despite the setbacks the some Hunter manufacturers have forged ahead in the past decade.
Ampcontrol's Hunter operation has grown by about 25 per and nationally by 32 per cent over the over the past five years.
The business, which employs 617 people in the Hunter, began 52 years servicing the mining industry.
While the mining sector remains a major client, the company has diversified into energy and infrastructure projects in recent years.
"We are doing a lot of work here in NSW on the Westconnex projects in Sydney," Ampcontrol chief executive officer Rod Henderson said.
"That's bringing a lot of jobs into the Hunter but we have taken the opportunity to pivot a lot of our R&D from the mining sector into other products outside the mining sector."
Other recent projects include a mobile water purification system than can turn bore water into potable water, a standalone power supply units and the development of a prototype underground coal mining vehicle.
"We have really tried to spread our base and put ourselves into a position where we can pivot and stay ahead of the market in terms of product releases into new sectors," Mr Henderson said.
Earlier this year Ampcontrol was awarded a state government contract to manufacture emergency ventilators for the coronavirus frontline.
The project team includes 20 Ampcontrol engineers, biomedical and clinical specialists from Hunter New England Local Health District at the John Hunter Hospital, the University of Newcastle's Faculty of Engineering and Newcastle engineering firms, Safearth and NewieVentures, among other NSW Health specialists.
Mr Henderson said the Hunter Region possessed many of the attributes need to be successful in manufacturing.
"We have some very smart and innovative people here in the Hunter not only from an engineering perspective but access to good business people. The quality of students coming from our university is very strong."
"I think the state government is looking to return where possible some sovereign manufacturing back to Australia and I think they will be looking for companies like Ampcontrol to supply some of that."
HunterNet chief executive Tony Cade said an increasing number of Hunter manufacturers had reaped the benefits of looking beyond the region and the state over the past decade.
"Successful businesses recognise that they are now part of global supply chains," he said.
"We (Hunternet) have we have been able to establish a number of hybrid employment opportunities that have not resulted in a loss of employment."
He also pointed to opportunities in areas of apparent loss, such as the departure of the Jetstar maintenance depot at Williamtown.
"People see the Jetstar exit as a negative but we are looking at how we can reconfigure that infrastructure. You have got 100 engineers and 48 trainees and apprentices that area specialised employees. We are working with Defence on opportunities with the Australian Air Force, the Vietnamese Air Force, the Malaysian Air Force and the New Zealand Air Force."
Tony Wood, author of the Grattan Institute's recent report on the potential for 'green steel' to be manufactured in the Hunter, said it was imperative that governments took meaningful steps to support clean energy manufacturing.
The report Start with steel: A practical plan to support carbon workers and cut emissions argued that regions such as the Hunter had an historic opportunity to become part of a multi-billion dollar export-focused manufacturing sector based on their access to renewable energy.
But the report also highlights the role of government policy to support new clean energy-based manufacturing industries.
"Some would like it (a transition to clean energy manufacturing) to happen really fast but it's not going to happen really fast because the demand for green steel won't grow over night in the same way that the demand for coal won't collapse over night," Mr Wood said.
"This is a story that will play out over the next 10 to 20 years but if we start putting in place the planning now we will be in a better position for the Hunter to take advantage of it."
Newcastle MP Tim Crakanthorp said taxpayers were paying a high price for the offshore manufacture of public infrastructure previously made locally.
"As we have seen recently with oversized trains and ferries with asbestos, cheaper certainly does not mean better," he said.
"Previous Labor Governments awarded several transport infrastructure projects to local manufacturers, like the Tangara, Oscar and Millennium train sets and First Fleet-class ferries, all of which are still in operation today."
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Labor's NSW Jobs First Bill was recently introduced to the Parliament.
The bill seeks to legislate support for local supply chains and require jobs to go to apprentices, the long-term unemployed and Indigenous people.
"The NSW Government spends more than $30 billion on goods and services each year. Every single cent of that should be helping create jobs in NSW. Every single cent should create and support industry across NSW, particularly regional NSW."
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IN THE NEWS:
Matthew Kelly
Matthew Kelly has worked as a journalist for more than 25 years. He has been working as a general reporter at the Newcastle Herald since 2018. In recent years he has reported on subjects including environment, energy, water security, manufacturing and higher education. He has previously covered issues including the health and environmental impacts of uncovered coal wagons in the Hunter Valley, the pollution of legacy of former industrial sites and freedom of information issues.
Matthew Kelly has worked as a journalist for more than 25 years. He has been working as a general reporter at the Newcastle Herald since 2018. In recent years he has reported on subjects including environment, energy, water security, manufacturing and higher education. He has previously covered issues including the health and environmental impacts of uncovered coal wagons in the Hunter Valley, the pollution of legacy of former industrial sites and freedom of information issues.
