Manufacturing is back in fashion and the Australian textiles industry wants to harness the enthusiasm

Can you answer “when did you last wear something made in Australia” as easily as you can recall when you last drank a local wine? The Australian Fashion Council and the newly-founded Parliamentary Friends of Australian Fashion and Textiles is trying to change the view of fashion as frivolous as the sector pushes to realise the enormous potential of what is already a $27 billion industry. The bid to revive domestic manufacturing is not about bringing cheap t-shirts back onshore. Rather, it’s looking to high-tech, high-value manufacturing and clothing, and the unique offering of Australian-made from fibre to finished garment using the world’s best cotton and wool that’s grown right here. A national manufacturing strategy launched this month provides the a strategic roadmap that’s as much about uniting the sector around a shared vision for the future as harnessing government support. “There’s the glitz and glamour of our industry, but at the heart and soul are hard-working people that actually care about the growth of this industry, keeping jobs in Australia and – most importantly – keeping this booming economy going,” AFC executive chair Marianne Perkovic said. Already, Australian fashion exports are worth $7.2 billion a year – more than wine and beer combined – and the manufacturing component contributes $2.6 billion to the economy, from $27.2 billion across the industry. Harnessing the opportunities for growth could add $1.5 billion and more than 1000 jobs in the next five years, according to modelling from RMIT. “This is not a frivolous industry; it is serious business,” Small Business Minister Anne Aly said. “The Australian fashion industry reflects some of the very best of our nation, creativity, resilience, ambition, and enterprise. Behind every design and every label are workers, makers, small businesses, and entrepreneurs helping to grow our economy and create jobs.” Simon Stewart, the founder and managing director of WA-based Stewart & Heaton, says the industry is battling against the perception that it’s a dying one. His company makes emergency services and government sector uniforms – “When you hear a siren or see a flashing light, they’re probably dressed by us,” he says – and believes there’s a strong future around Australia’s high-quality proposition. “We’re not here looking for government handouts,” he told this masthead at the launch of the manufacturing strategy in Parliament House. Nor was the plan about “chasing an impossible vision”, RM Williams chief operating officer Tara Moses said, but rather “recognising what’s already within reach if we move together”. It’s a sentiment repeated by AFC general manager Samantha Delgos, who says all the policies are in place, but the sector needs to unite to ensure policymakers consider it. “Manufacturing is a focus of the government, but then also fashion and textile manufacturing isn’t what you think when you hear ‘future made in Australia’,” she said. “The focus is definitely on a lot of other sectors, like the renewable transition and construction, but ... it is incredibly important that we have manufacturing capability here for our clothing. There’s a sovereign reason in terms of our Defence uniforms and medical PPE that we obviously saw during COVID, but there’s also a cultural value to clothing and what we wear.” Government procurement is one of the biggest levers that could be pulled, creating predictable demand to give the sector the certainty it needs to invest. “We hear lots of motherhood statements about, ‘we want to maximise local industry’ and all those sorts of things, but when push comes to shove, sometimes they just can’t help themselves, and they go for the lowest conforming bid,” Mr Stewart said. Public servants had to recognise that “to get an Australian-made product, you’re going to have to pay more”, but it would be higher quality, he said. Stewart & Heaton joined the showcase at Parliament House along with other Australian-made brands like icons R.M.Williams and Bianca Spender, newer players Bond-Eye Australia and Clothing the Gaps, and under-the-radar sporting suppliers Silver Fleece, which makes the Australian cricket team jumpers, and Sylvia P, which is a global leader in supplying gymnastics and cheerleading leotards. Labor MP Matt Burnell, a co-chair of the friendship group, was drawn to the cause because his family has a history of involvement with the textile sector going back to their arrival in Adelaide in the 1840s, and he now represents the community where the RM Williams factory is located. He was overwhelmed by the support from colleagues for the parliamentary friendship group – more than 60 MPs have signed on – and said many politicians didn’t realise what textiles manufacturing was taking place in their patch. “It’s these fascinating stories dotted around the country that have got a really strong connection to our Australian story, which needs to be told,” he said. He confessed to having been “a little bit guilty” of buying cheaper clothing and not caring where it came from, but said his wife had encouraged him to think more sustainably and ethically. “Everyone likes to feel nice when they walk out the door to go to a nice dinner or to a fancy event, but if we lose that component here in Australia, then that quality is lost forever, and those jobs are gone,” he said. “More than 80 pairs of hands touch these boots before they come out the other end in a box. It’s just unbelievably cool. “I don’t think we should want to lose that. I think that that’s what makes the industry so special here in Australia, I think it’s worth paying a little bit extra.” Co-chairs Liberal MP Zoe McKenzie and independent Dai Le also spoke of their love of fashion and being conscious of its origins. Ms McKenzie said she had been drawn to buying local because she realised years ago that unless she set guardrails around her own purchasing practices, “I would never own a home” – and now she saw Australian fashion all over the world. Ms Le declared that she loved fashion, but more importantly, textile manufacturing was “the story of my community out in western Sydney” and she was passionate about helping to encourage younger people to see career pathways in the industry to ensure its strong future. A spokesperson for Industry Minister Tim Ayres said the Government wanted to see a thriving local fashion and textile, clothing and footwear sector that delivered jobs and economic opportunity. Building that opportunity required not just collaboration across the sector, but also for Australian consumers to back their local industry, they said. Shadow industry minister Andrew Hastie also backed the need to rebuild advanced manufacturing capability.