Created: 2026-10-21
The Cost of Cheap Imports
Sharpening the saw The Cost of Cheap Imports
The Cost of Cheap Imports: Can Australia Rebuild Its Independence?
Australia once had the capacity to refine more of its own fuel and manufacture a wider range of products. Over time, cheaper overseas alternatives made importing more attractive than maintaining domestic production.
The closure of the Kurnell oil refinery in 2014 was one example. What made economic sense at the time also meant Australia became more dependent on overseas suppliers for its fuel needs.
But fuel is just one part of a much bigger question.
Have we traded resilience for convenience?
When a country loses its ability to produce essential goods, rebuilding that capability can be expensive and difficult. Skills disappear, infrastructure is dismantled, and supply chains become dependent on decisions made elsewhere.
Under normal conditions, global trade can deliver lower prices and greater choice. During wars, pandemics, shipping disruptions or international disputes, however, that dependence can become a serious vulnerability.
The real cost of cheap imports may not appear on a price tag. It may emerge when those imports are no longer available.
A different future for manufacturing
Technology offers an opportunity to rethink how we produce goods.
Automation, advanced manufacturing and 3D printing could allow more products to be manufactured locally, closer to the people who need them. Instead of relying entirely on enormous overseas factories, Australia could develop flexible, distributed production networks that serve local communities and businesses.
Reforming intellectual property and licensing systems could also help ensure that inventors and the countries where innovations originate receive fair returns, regardless of where products are manufactured.
Digital archives and technical knowledge must be protected, too. The knowledge needed to rebuild essential industries should not disappear when businesses close or technologies become obsolete.
Can Australia rebuild its oil refining capacity?
Australia should seriously reconsider rebuilding its domestic oil refining capacity.
The closure of Kurnell demonstrated how decisions driven by short-term commercial economics can leave a country more reliant on international supply chains. While importing refined fuel can be cheaper, that saving must be weighed against the strategic cost of losing domestic production capability.
Rebuilding a refinery would require substantial investment, careful assessment of long-term demand, modern technology and a commercially sustainable operating model. It would not eliminate Australia's reliance on imported crude oil, but it could restore some domestic control over fuel production and reduce exposure to disruptions in overseas refining and shipping.
Energy security is not simply about having fuel available today. It is about having the capacity to keep supplying it tomorrow.
Beyond fuel: rebuilding national capability
The same principle applies to manufacturing more broadly.
Rebuilding everything domestically would neither be practical nor necessary. International trade remains important, and cooperation between nations creates opportunities for everyone.
The goal should be to identify essential industries, maintain the skills and infrastructure to support them, and reduce dangerous dependencies where possible.
Governments, businesses, inventors and communities all have a role in building an economy that is productive, innovative and resilient.
Technology could also change the economics of local production. Automation, advanced manufacturing and 3D printing may make it increasingly practical to produce certain goods closer to where they are needed, reducing transportation costs and reliance on distant factories.
The question we should be asking
Australia does not need to turn away from the world. It needs to participate in the global economy without losing the ability to look after its own essential needs.
We should measure progress not only by how cheaply we can buy something today, but also by whether we can still obtain it tomorrow.
As major manufacturing powers compete for economic influence, technological leadership and global markets, Australia and other nations must consider how to protect their own productive capabilities without undermining international cooperation.
The goal should not be to undermine any nation, but to ensure that no nation becomes dangerously dependent on another for essential goods. Fair competition, innovation, resilient supply chains and shared technological progress can help every country participate in the global economy with greater confidence.
Reforming intellectual property systems, protecting digital archives and rewarding the inventors and nations responsible for innovation could help create a fairer global manufacturing model. Combined with automation and 3D printing, these changes could make local production more viable while allowing knowledge and technology to benefit the wider world.
The next industrial revolution should not be about finding the cheapest place to manufacture everything. It should be about giving every nation the technology, knowledge and opportunity to produce what it needs, protect what it creates and prosper alongside others.
A more resilient Australia. A more innovative world. An economy where progress creates opportunities for everyone.