Writer
Roy Green
Emeritus Professor Roy Green AM is Special Innovation Advisor at the University of Technology Sydney, where he was Dean of the UTS Business School. He has pursued a career in universities, government and industry, and has published widely on innovation and industrial policy, including with the OECD. He has chaired the CSIRO Manufacturing Sector Advisory Council, the Enterprise Connect Innovative Regions Centre, the Queensland Competition Authority and the NSW Manufacturing Council. Currently, Roy chairs the Advanced Robotics for Manufacturing (ARM) Hub and the Port of Newcastle, and he is a board director at CSIRO and SmartSat CRC.
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For the world’s biggest coal export port, the future is just beginning
This month my term as chair of the Port of Newcastle comes to an end. It’s been a time of transformational change for the world’s biggest coal export port, with an ambitious growth and diversification plan ready to weigh anchor. Continue reading »
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Promises and perils of the Future Made in Australia Act
Australia’s industrial policy is shifting significantly with the introduction of the Future Made in Australia Act, which aims to enhance local manufacturing and reduce reliance on commodity exports. But concerns have arisen regarding the potential inefficiencies of targeted investments and the risk of deepening regional disparities. Australia needs a broader and more balanced approach that Continue reading »
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Science and technology shapes our world
After the second world war there was another bout of industry building. Here, in an extract from his Keynote Address at the 2024 Pearcey Foundation National Awards, Emeritus Professor Roy Green reflects on the creation of Australia’s first computer, and what it can teach us about today’s industry policy challenge. Continue reading »
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Productivity, innovation and industrial structure
The traditional market model of comparative advantage denies Australia the more promising strategic opportunity to identify and capitalise on areas of potential competitive advantage in the high productivity, high-skill jobs and industries of the future, including advanced manufacturing. Instead, with this model we will be locked into low-productivity, low-wage industries, with limited scope for uplift Continue reading »
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How Mike Baird’s privatisation almost crippled the Newcastle container terminal
The terms of privatisation included an anti-competitive restriction on the development of a commercial-scale container terminal at Newcastle, primarily to boost the sale price of Port Botany. Continue reading »
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Is the Productivity Commission an institution beyond repair?
The appointment of Chris Barrett to head the Productivity Commission puts its Trade and Assistance Review under the spotlight. Continue reading »
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Reforming the productivity commission
As federal Treasurer Jim Chalmers ponders the future of Australia’s Productivity Commission (PC), calls for its reform or even abolition have grown louder. Anyone following the media commentary might have the impression that its recommendations have been steadfastly ignored by government for the last two decades. Continue reading »
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Australia: An Electric Vehicle Battery manufacturing powerhouse?
Is it too late for Australia to enter the global market for Electric Vehicle Battery (EVB) manufacturing? It has become apparent that Australia’s exit in 2016 from local car production has made it more difficult for us to participate fully in one of the 21st century’s fastest growing, technically advanced and environmentally critical industries. Continue reading »
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Industry policy for a changing world
The Biden administration’s ambitious new AUD 400 billion industrial policy initiative once again confronts Australia with the question of whether we want to be in the forefront of science and innovation, or way back in the slipstream. Continue reading »
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ROY GREEN. Australia’s Manufacturing Future. Part 2 of 2
The framework for a national industrial strategy can draw with great benefit from the experience of other countries, but it is important to recognise that such a strategy should also be adapted to the specific conditions and prospects of the Australian economy. Continue reading »
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ROY GREEN. Australia’s Manufacturing Future. Part 1 of 2
Every crisis provides an opportunity and Covid-19 is no exception. Not only has it exposed the gaps in Australia’s manufacturing supply chains, but it has also more broadly demonstrated the vulnerability of a commodity-based economy to external shocks and the need to reverse the now all too apparent hollowing out of manufacturing capability. Continue reading »
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ROY GREEN. Labor’s unloseable election
Was it the message or the messenger? Or a bit of both? This question will occupy the minds of political strategists for years to come. The federal election was a setback to Australia’s labour movement, not least because it came as a shock, but there is no reason for despair once put into perspective. The Continue reading »
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ROY GREEN. Pricking the balloon of crony capitalism
The Queensland Supreme Court has dismissed Aurizon Network’s application for judicial review of a draft decision by the Queensland Competition Authority on rail access, with costs awarded in favour of the QCA. Former QCA Chair and now Chair of the Port of Newcastle Professor Roy Green comments. Continue reading »
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ROY GREEN. World class container terminal for Newcastle and the investigation by the ACCC
Connectivity isn’t everything, but it’s almost everything. Faster, better and cheaper is transforming our daily lives. And connectivity isn’t just about broadband access. It’s also about fast and efficient freight transport. Even in a digital world where so much of what we produce is intangible, Australia’s fortunes as an island continent depend on its transport Continue reading »
