Accelerate the World's Transition to Sustainable Energy - to fight Anthropogenic Climate Change, page-33619

Chief executive Sanjeev Gandhi said Orica invested $1.5 billion in two acquisitions over the half-year to March but not “a single cent” in Australia.

“That was a miss for Australia. That was funding from Australia that went overseas, not investment in Australia in manufacturing. If I get better margins and better prices elsewhere, obviously my capital goes there,” Gandhi said.

Resources Minister Madeleine King said on Thursday the government would back the case for new gas fields and import terminals to secure supplies and underpin its “made in Australia” agenda in next week’s federal budget.

Australia could avoid future shortfalls by opening contentious new gas fields, such as Woodside’s Scarborough basin off the Western Australian coast or Narrabri, Santos’ project under development in northern NSW.

“My message is: let’s first protect the present. If you don’t have a manufacturing base, what do you produce in the future? Nothing!” he said.

Other companies, too, are struggling with high manufacturing costs. Global confectionery and food giant Mars recently said its local factories were among its most costly to run, and Wesfarmers late last year took a swipe at gas producers after prices soared from $2 per gigajoule a few years ago to around $12 on today’s spot markets...