Locals urged to join the Australian-made club.

Residents in the Petrie Electorate are being encouraged to “join the Aussie-made Club” as a new campaign was launched to promote Australian Made.

“I know everyone wants to do their bit to help in our national economic recovery,” Hon Luke Howarth said.

“I encourage local residents to go to the Australian Made website and literally “join the club” – it’s free, you get offers and discounts, and it helps you identify a range of Australian-made products.”

Mr Howarth said buying Australian-made products whenever possible is a really practical way to back local producers and manufacturers.

“So many locals have come to me asking what we can do to grow Australian manufacturing. One of the best things we can do is to buy local,” Mr Howarth said.

“When you buy Australian Made you’re not just helping the local shop, you’re supporting Aussie manufacturers and all the businesses in their supply chains from farmers to designers.”

Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Karen Andrews said the new ad campaign reflects the ground-swell of community support for Australian products.

“As a country we’ve rallied together to slow the spread of coronavirus, now we need to pull together to back our local businesses and manufacturers,” Minister Andrews said.

“Australians are the first to put up their hand to help in a crisis. As we look to navigate the economic impacts of coronavirus the simplest thing we can do to help is to buy Australian.”

Australian Made Campaign Limited CEO Ben Lazzaro said the campaign is designed to build on the huge grass-roots movement spawned by the COVID-19 pandemic.

“Our website is attracting more than 250,000 visitors a month – a 130% increase on normal. Our social media audience has grown ten-fold since the beginning of this pandemic,” Mr Lazzaro said.

“Australian brands are also seeing the value in using our logo, with a four-fold increase in applications and a doubling in new licensees.”

The new ad campaign comes after the Morrison Government earlier this year committed $5 million to expand the reach of the Australian Made logo, so our manufacturers could take on new markets around the world.