Having worked predominantly in the manufacturing sector for most of his career, Murray Hine knows the industry inside and out. In August 2012, he joined New Zealand-based Elldex, a packaging solutions company owned, at the time, by the conglomerate Hellaby Holdings. Murray worked as its general manager for several years. Then, in May 2015, the business was acquired by global brand Coveris and, ever since, Murray has been overseeing the Australasian operations as CEO.
Murray says he is hugely optimistic for the future of manufacturing in the Australian and New Zealand markets.
“I think manufacturing now is under 7 per cent of the Australian GDP, and probably an even smaller percentage of the New Zealand GDP; however, our economy is going through a transition from being resource based to more service based,” he explains.
“For example, health, entertainment, tourism, and IT. But, with the return of the resource sector to its long-term trend, rather than the boom trend of the late 90s and early 2000s, this will have an impact on the currency and the Australian dollar. When the Australian dollar is lower, relative to either the US dollar or the trade-weighted index, it benefits manufacturing hugely. I don’t think we’ll go back to making cars, but for businesses like packaging, which is what Coveris does, it is a great help to have a low dollar.