Australia in the Seventies

Media

Part of The Philippines Herald

Title: Australia in the Seventies
Language: English
Source: The Philippines Herald (November 12, 1970)
Year: 1970
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Fulltext: Sydney by night — with the blaze and bustle of Warringah Expressway The Lucky Country" they called Australia in the Sixties. What will the catch-phrase be in the Seventies? The island continent has just completed a decade of economic growth, unprecedented in this century, and trends indicate that Australia's high growth rate of the Sixties could accelerate in the Seventies. The structure of the Australian economy is changing more drastically and more rapidly than the economies of most other countries in the world. The traditional pictur sprawling sheep stations, bounding kangaroos is not as it is unrepresentative. Australia is still one of the great agricultural producing and exporting nations of the world — but today she is much more than this. The country is one of the fastest expanding industrial na tions in the Asian region — and one of the newest and richest sources of mineral deposits in the world. The dominating feature of the Australian economy in the Seven ties will be minerals, as it was in the late Sixties. All past pro jections of export earning from minerals and metals have fallen far below actual sales and the latest estimate, based on existing contracts, is close to $A2,000 mil lion annually by the mid-1970’s. In 1968/69 it was $A759 million. This year it will hit the SA1.000 e of Australia as a land of waving wheat crops and so much inaccurate today million mark — $A200 million above the figure predicted two years ago to be reached in 1972. What is more remarkable is that less than a decade ago Australia had an embargo on the export of iron ore because of the scarcity of known reserves. Now, these are officially estimated at 20,000 mil lion tons. However, Mr. Russell Madigan, managing director of Hamersley Iron Pty. Ltd., one of Australia’s largest iron ore mi ning companies, estimates that the Pilbara area of Western Aus tralia alone contains about 100 million million tons of ore — enough to meet world demands for 140,000 years! But it is not only the “moun tains of iron” that are adding muscle to the economy. Austra lia has the world’s largest reserves of bauxite (the raw material for aluminium;) she is the world’s largest producer of lead, and third in zinc output, outside the Soviet bloc; she ranks first in the production of rutile (used to make the heat-resistant metal for moon rockets) and Zircon; she has large deposits of coal, nickel, phos phates, manganese, natural gas and petroleum. The bulk of the minerals now exported are in the raw state — ore as opposed to metal — and there is concern in Australia that she should not become one giant quarry for the rest of the world. A few companies are already processing ore into metal, others are erecting processing plants while others are investigating the possibilities. Each ton of iron ore, or bauxite, or copper, or nickel concentrates processed to one stage further multiplies its earnings many times over. Processed even fur ther to refined metal, export ear nings would be even greater. The Sixties saw the beginning of the minera) bonanza. The Se venties should see the growing trend towards the establishment of fully Integrated precessing plants for this new-found wealth. Although overshadowed by mi neral development in the last de cade, Australia’s manufacturing industries made rapid progress in the Sixties and today its scope ranges from household appliances to factory machinery, from base metals to precision instruments, from heavy engineering equip ment to complex electronic de vices. This sector of the economy now directly employs 28 percent of the work-force and its output contri butes a similar percentage to the Gross National Product (GJT.P.J. In the past 10 years annual pro duction has more than doubled to $A7,000 million. An indication of the maturity of the country’s manufacturing capabilities was the design and building in Australia of the ra cing car engines that powered Jack Brabham to victory in. the Formula One World Champion ships two years running — In I9B6 and 1967. Last year Peter Revson drove to first place in the Indianapolis “200” and fifth place in the Indianapolis “500” with the help of his Australian design ed and built engine. Certain characteristics of the Australian manufacturing indus try are epitomized by what has happened in the petrochemical field. This industry is less than 10 years old, yet Australia is al ready virtually self-sufficient. This growing self-sufficiency In various fields Is likely to con tinue in the Seventies and in one field, petroleum, it is estimated that Australia will be producing 70 percent of its requirements by the end of this decade. A recent observation by a Ger man Industrialist after visiting Thursdoy, November 12, 1970 Page 2 AUSTRALIAN SUPPLEMENT Message I am pleased to take this op portunity to let you know about current trading activities bet ween the Philippines and Aus tralia and what steps are cur rently being done to further our mutual efforts to develop reciprocal trade. Next week, a Tasmanian gov ernment trade mission will vi sit Manila to explore the possi bilities for joint venture pro jects in the fields of agricul ture, dairying and cattle raising — they will be here for three days. hium December 2nd to 5th, the Chemical Industries Trade Mission, about which I have al ready announced the details, will be in Manila. Detailed plans for these two missions are now well advanof the Trade Commissioner ced. However, businessmen wishing to meet with members of either of these 2 missions may still do,so if they will con tact the Trade Commission without further delay. It is most heartening to give special mention to the Philip pine Trade Mission, which is being sponsored and organized by the Chamber of Commerce of the Philippines and which will visit Australia from the 30th of November until the 14th of December. It is to be hoped that this will be the forerun ner of many more selling mis sions from the Philippines, not only to Australia, but to other countries wi*h whom you trade. In the new year, the Trade Commission will be moving to its new location in the China Bank Building In Makati. The new offices and facilities will enable us further to cope with the increasing demands in the commercial and economic fields. The new location will also make possible the installa tion of a permanent display area for the Australian pro ducts which are currently avail able in the Philippines. I hope that this special sup plement of the Philippines He rald will help lead to a closer understanding of the efforts Australia is making towards the economic, industrial and agri cultural development of the Philippines, and Australia’s continued confidence in the fu ture of your great nation. — F. W. GLUTH, Australian Gov ernment Trade Commissioner. F. W. GLUTH Australia sums up present pro gress: “Australia is on the move; big things are happening both in raw materials and in industriali zation.” Although agriculture appears to have been relegated to third place In this push towards creating an urbanized industrial' society, this is illusory. Agriculture has been, and will continue to play a very important part in the economy. In fact, the sale of Australia’s farm products overseas financed the country’s rapid industrializa tion in the Sixties This sector still provides just under 60 per cent of the country’s foreign ex change and this reliance on the output of the Australian farmer will continue in the Seventies. Last year rural production contributed 9 percent to the G.N.P. with a gross value of around $A4,000 million, nearly half of which was exported. Even with the vagaries of world prices for primary produce, more often down than up, and varying seasonal conditions including droughts and bushfires, Austra lian farmers Increased their vo lume of rural output by 45 per cent in the Sixties. Paradoxically, workers have been gradually drift ing away from the farms to the cities until today only eight per cent of the workforce is on the land, compared with 11 Dercent at the beginning of the Sixties Increased mechanization has been the farmers’ answer to this shrinking labour force. The use of Australian cultivators, seeding and planting machinery has in creased rapidly. In 10 years the number of tractors on rural hold ings rose from 225,000 to 325,000. More than 90 percent of wheat Is now handled by bulk methods. This drift of the land is ex pected to continue In the Seven ties which will see the machine together with agricultural science Increasing output as well as open ing up new lands for pastoral and agricultural development.' But what will all this mean to the average Australian In the Se venties? According to one of Australia’s leading banks, In a projection into the future based on current trends, Australians will become even more motorized than they are now. From the one car for every three persons in the country now, the “two-car” family will be come more commonplace in the Seventies. With it will come the “two-house” family — the family residence close to work and school for the weekdays, and the cot tage by the sea, in the country or in the mountains for the week end and holidays. In the consumer field, It was refrigerators, transistor radios and television sets in the Sixties. In the Seventies there Is likely to be a wider acceptance of food freezers and air conditioners. But the main Impact (in terms of spending) will be the Introduc tion of colour television to Aus tralia In the Seventies. One Interesting aspect of the bank’s projection for the Seven ties is the changing buying ha bits of Australians. Spending on durable goods, such as cars, fur niture, electrical goods, hardware etc., is expected to rise from an average growth rate of 5.4 per cent a year during the Sixties to 9.2 percent In the Seventies. On the other hand spending on non durables. such as food and cloth ing Is expected to continue Its downward path. Although ac tual spending grew slowly in the Sixties It has not been keeping pace with the G.N.P. and only comprised 24 per cent last year. It Is expected to droD to less than 30 percent of the G.N.P. by the end of the Seventies. Overall the Australian economy in the Sixties took time to get mo ving because of the 1961 recession and then exoanslon was curtailed in the mld-slxtles by drought. However, In money terms the country’s G.N.P. rose at an ave rage yearly rate of eight percent. The Increase could be as high as 9.5 per cent this decade. Prices will probably account for up to 3.5 percent of this increase, resulting In an average annual real rate of growth of around six percent, compared with 4.9 percent In the Sixties. By international standards the -Australian economy appears to be In a state of rude health. True, there are signs of strain now emerging , but when one consi ders all factors these stresses are of a transitory nature — mere twinges In the joints of a growing youth who Is rapidly approaching adulthood. An $A11 million olefines plant operated at Botany (Sydney) by ICIANZ Ltd. In the year 1969-70 the Australian chemical industry exported products worth more than $A136 million. A 16-member Chemical Industries Trade Mission from Australia now touring South East Asia, will reach Manila on December 2. Organized by the Australian Department of Trade and Industry, with the support of the Austra lian Chemical Industry Council and the National Council of Chemical and Pharmaceutical Industries, the mission comprises representatives of companies making and exporting a vast range of industrial and other chemicals. Headed by Mr. W. S. Duffield, the mission follows previous ven tures In 1965 and 1967. Mr. Duf field was also the leader of the 1967 mission. Other stops on the South East Asian tour are Djakarta, Singa pore, Taipei, Seoul, Tokyo, and Hongkong. The Australian chemical Indus try, which In 1969-70 registered exports worth $A136 million, plans to increase overseas outlets during the 1970s to help accommodate an expected doubling of produc tion. At present, a quarter of Austra lia’s chemicals exports goes to Asia. The Industry employs more than 55,000 people and produces such diverse products, as alkalis, acids, heavy organic chemicals, petrochemicals, explosives, phar maceuticals, cosmetics, polymers, fibres, paints, plastics, and fertil izers. It exports organic and Inorganic chemicals to 48 overseas countries Including Britain, Fiji, France, Hongkong, India, Italy, Kenya, (Continued on page 4) Thursday, November 12, 1970 AUSTRALIAN SUPPLEMENT Page 3
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