Manufacturing in Australia

[2] Australia's manufacturing sector is diverse with the largest sub-industries being food, beverage and tobacco, machinery and equipment, petroleum, coal and chemicals and metal products.

[4] The majority of Australia's manufacturing was undertaken in the capital cities and Newcastle because of their proximity to shipping and rail hubs.

Manufacturing in Australia experienced an exceptional boom during World War II and the two decades that followed.

[1] Workers in iron, steel, auto, white goods, textiles, clothing and footwear industries were particularly hard hit.

[1] It wasn't long before new markets in Asian countries such as China and Japan opened up with much cheaper imports now possible.

[9] From 2000, the resource boom saw the Australian dollar soar on exchanges, making exports expensive on the global stage and imports exceptionally cheap.

The sectors include the following:[15] * Before the 2010 closure of the Port Lincoln Tuna cannery Until trade liberalisation in the mid-1980s, Australia had a large textile industry.

[18] Holden bodyworks were manufactured at Elizabeth, South Australia and engines were produced at the Fishermans Bend plant in Port Melbourne.

They estimated the new investment package would return around $4 billion to the Australian economy and see GM Holden continue making cars in Australia until at least 2022.

Tasmania produces 40% of the world's raw narcotic materials;[27] some of this is locally converted into codeine and other pharmaceuticals in Tasmania by Tasmanian Alkaloids, owned by Johnson and Johnson, while GlaxoSmithKline processes some of the resulting poppy straw in Victoria.

A partial list of companies operating manufacturing facilities in Australia, with their most important products.