We can Spot the Green Sheep, but Where is the Reconstructing?

The ongoing opacity of the Future Made in Australia agenda and the National Reconstruction Fund is ignoring the geostrategic decisiveness Australia needs.

Key Observations

• Despite the public establishment of the Future Made in Australia approach and the National Reconstruction Fund, little has been accomplished.

• Initial focuses of the FMiA policy and NRF to centre on Australian businesses have started to slip; not helped by the relative ease in multinationals finding ways to bend around national/international designations.

• The lack of decisiveness in these projects is reflective of the lack of strategic thinking amongst decision-makers, despite the stated imperatives of the FMiA and NRF.

This week, Federal Parliament continued its debate on the Australian Government’s proposed Future Made in Australia Act 2024, demonstrating the political divide on how to address economic diversification and role of the Future Made in Australia package across the economy.

When the Australian Labor Party returned to federal power in May 2022, after nine years in opposition, its election platform on Australia's industrial strategy featured large in campaigning…