RMWilliams owner Dr Andrew Forrest AO toured the company\u2019s new production facility in Adelaide on Monday. Picture: NewsWire \/ Roy VanDerVegt <\/p>\n
Australia has a \u201cfantastic\u201d future in manufacturing, mining magnate Andrew Forrest has declared, but it should avoid trying to compete with industrial powerhouses like China and the US in winning what he termed \u201cold industries\u201d.<\/p>\n
Mr Forrest, the billionaire founder of iron ore behemoth Fortescue, delivered the optimistic outlook while opening a dramatic expansion of his RM Williams production facility in Adelaide\u2019s outer north on Monday.<\/p>\n
\u201cI say to everyone out there, buy Australian Made,\u201d he said at the Salisbury factory on Monday as hundreds of workers fitted together the boots, belts, trousers and wallets that have become iconic components of the country\u2019s fashion landscape and its export sector.<\/p>\n
\u201cLet\u2019s be clever about it, politicians and business leaders. Play to Australian strengths. We don\u2019t have to go head on against where other countries have clearly stolen the market. In Australia, there\u2019s a manufacturing world we can get after, which we can do better and we must. I\u2019m deeply proud to own RM Williams.\u201d<\/p>\n
RM Williams owner Dr Andrew Forrest stands with CEO Paul Grosman at the new facility in Adelaide. Picture: NewsWire \/ Roy VanDerVegt
Mr Forrest said Australia had a \u2018fantastic\u2019 future in manufacturing. Picture: NewsWire \/ Roy VanDerVegt <\/p>\n
Mr Forrest took control of the legendary 93-year-old Australian apparel brand in 2020 through his private investment group Tattarang.<\/p>\n
The new workshop, called Bushman\u2019s Base, adds 20,000 sqm to RM Williams\u2019 manufacturing and distribution footprint in the city, bringing its total space to 29,500 sqm, or twice the size of the Adelaide Oval.<\/p>\n
Mr Forrest said he \u201cabsolutely\u201d wanted to expand production further and take the business \u201cforward\u201d.<\/p>\n
\u201cNot everyone wants to go be mathematicians or AI experts,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople really love working with their hands. They love being able to create and see the results of their work and that\u2019s RM Williams.\u201d<\/p>\n
He warned, however, about pursuing traditional industries like carmaking, and suggested governments were \u201cunderestimating the Australian people\u201d in propping up struggling or failing businesses like the Mount Isa smelter in Queensland and the Port Pirie smelter in South Australia.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe\u2019re a forward looking nation,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019ve tended to really support new industries \u2026 we\u2019re ingenious, we\u2019re creative, we can compete against the best of the world, but let\u2019s go after those areas where we are best. And not just try and prop up old industries.\u201d<\/p>\n
State and federal government will pump in $600m to keep mining giant Glencore\u2019s copper smelter going in Queensland and $135m for Nyrstar\u2019s smelter operations in Port Pirie and Tasmania.<\/p>\n
The country\u2019s manufacturing sector is struggling with high energy prices compared with competitor nations like the US, but Mr Forrest said the country was at a \u201ccrossover point\u201d where traditional energy systems like coal and gas were being replaced by 24\/7 renewable energy.<\/p>\n
RM Williams worker Debbie Spry works at the new facility in Adelaide. Picture: NewsWire \/ Roy VanDerVegt <\/p>\n
\u201cRenewable energy being 24\/7 green energy is coming,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cRunning like a nuclear or coal fired power station. Whinging about we need more gas, that\u2019s yesterday \u2026 it\u2019s like burning sticks and logs.\u201d<\/p>\n
On a separate question, Mr Forrest appeared to dismiss the importance of the $13.5bn critical minerals deal struck between Anthony Albanese and President Trump in Washington D.C. last week.<\/p>\n
\u201cI don\u2019t see anything that critical about critical minerals,\u201d he said.<\/p>\n
\u201cI see nothing rare about rare earths. We\u2019ve got small oceans of it.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"RMWilliams owner Dr Andrew Forrest AO toured the company\u2019s new production facility in Adelaide on Monday. Picture: NewsWire…\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":243782,"comment_status":"","ping_status":"","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[11],"tags":[6093,115428,64,63,99,164,78065,145267,145268,1124],"class_list":{"0":"post-243781","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-economy","8":"tag-adelaide-oval","9":"tag-andrew-forrest","10":"tag-au","11":"tag-australia","12":"tag-business","13":"tag-economy","14":"tag-manufacturing-sector","15":"tag-mr-forrest","16":"tag-rm-williams","17":"tag-south-australia"},"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243781","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/2"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=243781"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/243781\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/243782"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=243781"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=243781"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.newsbeep.com\/au\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=243781"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}