By AIDAN KNIGHT
AS part of the 2025 Gippsland New Energy Conference (GNEC), several discussions centred on the future of manufacturing in Australia and how energy and the energy sector can contribute.
One of the seminal symposia on the topic was delivered by Honi Walker, chief executive of the South East Melbourne Manufacturers Alliance (SEMMA).
Ms Walker spoke in the McFarlane Burnet room of the Traralgon library, on her organisation’s constantly evolving document, the ‘blueprint for growth’, advocating for what they describe as “Australia’s most dynamic manufacturing region”
“Evolve is just a fancy word for policy,” Ms Walker said, revealing an ambitious target to transform Australia’s manufacturing landscape. It is SEMMA’s goal to dramatically increase the sector’s contribution to GDP in Australian manufacturing and increase from the current 5.9 per cent to 10 per cent
The blueprint highlights the sector’s resilience, challenging the narrative that manufacturing is a dying industry.
With 230,000 manufacturing jobs in Melbourne’s southeast region alone, Walker emphasised the sector’s critical importance to local economies.
“Manufacturing is not dead. Don’t believe that. People have said it, and some people believe it, just because we lost automotive manufacturing. But there is still a huge parts and aftermarket sector here in Victoria that services those areas.”
One of her pivotal examples was the production of rolling stock, the technical term for train and rail manufacturing, undoubtedly key, leading figure in the state’s manufacturing figures, homed in the south east suburb of Dandenong. Around 95 per cent of V/Line services travelling through the Traralgon corridor are built by Bombardier, and have been since 2001. These locomotives have been developed and built at the Dandenong plant since 2004.
Ms Walker presented the notion that the south east fosters the relationship Gippsland has with it’s metro counterparts. This could take place a number of ways, but the most obvious would be to include the energy transition, by integrating welders in the power industry of the Latrobe Valley into the parts and materials, and the automation process of the rolling stock production. This could put Gippsland into a position where other manufacturing capabilities could be explored, leveraging the Gippsland-to-Dandenong corridor.
“By about 2030, predictions are that Australia will be 10,000 welders short,” she said. This skill gap will be especially acute in the Latrobe Valley, as everyone is becoming increasingly aware of the power station closures ‘drying up’ the highest-paying pool for those in the trade.
“Everyone who is already skilled in welding will go to WA, fly-in-fly-out, because that’s where the money is,” Ms Walker said.
“Anyone who isn’t will take a short-term role in the construction of the Brisbane Olympic Games 2032.”
But, Ms Walker argues, if foundations were to be laid for a potentially thriving Gippsland parts and supply chain sector, there would be more reason for the next generation of school-leavers to train in this field, made more appealing by pay-packet size and job security. This goes not only for rolling stock, but for trucks, tram, and even caravans (the latter of which have production zones as close to Gippsland as the AVAN dealer in Pakenham).
To address this challenge, SEMMA has launched a careers attraction campaign called ‘Manufacturing Facts’.
Ms Walker explained the initiative aims to transform perceptions of manufacturing among young people.
“We’re showing fantastic careers across sectors like AI, advanced manufacturing, metal trades, aerospace, and defence,” she said.
The three-month pilot program encourages people to “send it to your kids, your friends, your cousins, your aunties, your uncles” to showcase the diverse and exciting opportunities in modern manufacturing.
Ms Walker emphasised, though, that this wasn’t just about replacing jobs, but about strategic economic development that could bring high-value manufacturing roles to the Latrobe Valley and wider Gippsland areas, something that seemingly everyone wants but nobody has the answer to.
