Across the Tasman

Sun (Auckland), Volume III, Issue 706, 4 July 1929, Page 4 (Supplement)

Across the Tasman

PRODUCTION IN AUSTRALIA

Growth of Manufactures

DEVELOPMENT of Australian manufacturing industry over a period of 20 years from 1907 to 1927 is a story of pleasing growth. The number of factories in 1907 was 12,600, but in 1927 they had increased to 21,600. The number of employees likewise increased in this period from 249,000 to 467,000, an average of more than 21 a factory. Therefore, in the 20 years the number of persons employed had increased by 87|- per cent., and the size of the factories had increased slightly.

The value of land, -which had been £25,000,000 in 1907 was £103,000,000 in 1926-27, and the value of plant and machinery increased in the same time from £25,000,000 to £117,000,000. A considerable proportion of the increases is, of course, due to change in price levels, and even if an increase of 75 per cent, be allowed for this cause, the real increase indicated, irrespective of prices, would be 136 per cent, in the case of land and buildings and 168 per cent, in the case of plant and machinery—a rapid increase for a period of some 20 years. HUGE WAGES INCREASE In the matter of salaries and wages of employees, the total paid in 1907 was £18,300,000 and in 1926-27 £90,600,000, representing about £7B each in 1907 per annum, and £202 each in 1926-27. The wages represent on the average about 55 per cent, of the value added to raw materials in the process of manufacture. The aggregate value of raw materials used increased from £53,000,000 in 1907 to £233,000,000 in 1926-27, which allowing for the increase in price level, represents the treatment of about 2J times the quantity of material in the latter as was treated in the earlier year. POWER IN INDUSTRY The value of fuel power and light used in factories increased from £1,800,000 in 1907 to £13,700,000 in 1926-27, or allowing for rises in prices, a real increase to four and a third times the earlier volume. This gives an indication of the increasing extent to which power is being used in Australian factories. The aggregate value of the output of factories, which was £87,000,000 in 1907, had grown by 1926-27 to £409,000,000.. Allowing for the rise in prices during this period, this represented an increase of about 170 per cent. Of the total value of the output, the value of raw material, fuel, power and light used represents a portion which varies within a fairly narrow range from year to year, and for recent years is approximately 60 per cent.; the remaining 40 per cent, is the value added in process of manufacture —the contribution made by the manufacturing industry to the real income of the community. This added value increased from £33,000,000 in 1907 to £161,000,000 in 1926-27, or allowing for change in price levels by about 180 per cent. We have thus

on all hands a record of remarkable increase in manufacturing industry during tile 20 years for which comparable data are available. BUILDINGS AND WORKS Two other industries of importance are associated in principle with the manufacturing industry, and are often combined with it under the comprehensive head of ‘‘industry,” as distinct from agriculture, which is often used in a wide sense to cover several of our primary industries. These two Industries are the building trade and works construction, and both are of great importance. Both are necessarily engaged in production for home consumption. Statistics in respect of either are defective, and the defect is not readily remedied. An indication of the extent of the building trade may be attained by a comparison of the data for the censuses of 1911 and 1921 in respect of dwellings, the figures for the increase between those two dates are, of course, much less than the total number built in the intervening decennium, since allowance must he made for demolitions, concerning which there are no records in a suitable form for calculation. In 1911 dwellings of all kinds totalled 923,000, and in 1921 they totalled 1,153,000, indicating an increase of 230,000, or approximately 25 per cent, in 10 years. A similar increase since 1921 would giv,e a present total of about 1,370,000. 55.000 HOUSES ANNUALLY

If it can be assumed that two per cent, of the existing houses require demolition each year, thus giving an average life per house of 50 years, and if the population be increasing two per cent, per annum, and the ratio of persons to houses found at the census be maintained, an annual production would be required of new dwellings approximately to four per cent, of the existing number, or, say, £55,000. If these cost on the average no more than £SOO each, the total building costs per annum would be £27.500,000. and it would Increase at the rate of 4 per cent, per annum on the suppositions above made. The building trade from the point of view of dwellings only is thus important and growing. To this must be added the large annual expenditure on shops, offices. Institutions and other buildings than dwellings, and further the large and growing expenditure on earthworks and other construction of various kinds in connection with railways, tramways, water conservation and harbour works, etc. EXPORT TRADE

An investigation has been made covering the 10 years, 1917-18 to 192627 inclusive, and for this decennium as a whole it has been found that Australian products averaging in value £125.000.000 have been exported annually, representing almost exactly one-third of the total production of our primary and manufacturing industries. The other two-thirds represent our local consumption of such products, thus indicating that our local market absorbs twice as much of this produce as the markets overseas. The several industries, of course, contribute different proportions of their output to this export outflow. Thus, pastoral products, 64 per cent, are exported, of mining 59 per cent., of agricultural 36 per cent., of dairying 20 per cent., of forestry and fishery products, 16 per cent., and of manufacturing 5 per cent. It thus appear,; that the pastoral and mining industries find considerably more than 50 per cent, of their markets overseas. POPULATION INCREASE ‘‘Since the beginning of the century the growth of population, without being meteoric, has been substantial, passing the 6,250,000 mark early in 1928, and reaching a total of more than 6,300,000 at the end of that year. One significance of this is that the number of white persons added to our population during the 28 yeaTs of the present century represents nearly 70 per cent, of the number which had been slowly accumulating during the previous period of 113 years since the first white settlement. The rate of increase over the whole period of 28 years has averaged somewhat less than 2 per cent, per annum, whereas if we eliminate the slow growth of the first eight years of the century we have an average rate of population growth during the 20 years from 1908 to 1928 of rather more than 2 per cent, per annum, a rate which, if maintained, will double our population every 35 years. ANALYSIS OF BREADWINNERS The commercial class Is the largest in Australia, comprising 355,000 breadwinners in 1921, as compared with 223,000 in 1901, an increase of 60 per cent, in 20 years. The proportion per 1,000 breadwinners increased substantially from 136 in 1901 to 153 in 1921. Summarising the occupations of the breadwinners it may be said 31 per cent, were engaged in the industrial group of occupations, 26 per cent. were primary producers, 15 per cent, were engaged in commercial pursuits, 9 per cent, in transport and communication, 9 per cent, in professional pursuits, 9 per cent, in domestic callings, and 1 per cent, were of independent means.” PRODUCTION PER HEAD An analysis of the tangible result of the efforts of the population shows that the total value of primary and manufacturing production combined was estimated at £114,600,000, or £3O a head of population, in 1901, as compared’ with £446,900,000, or £73 a head of population in 1926-27. Roughly, the total quantity produced in primary and manufacturing industries in 1926-27 exceeded that in 1901 by 116 per cent., and the total quantity produced a head in 1926-27 exceeded that in 1901 by 33 per cent.” The population during the currency of the century has increased twothirds and productivity per head has increased one-third in the same time.” C. H. WICKENS, Australian Federal Statistician.