A taskforce made up of trade unions and manufacturers submitted on Thursday its report to Prime Minister Julia Gillard containing more than 40 recommendations.

The recommendations ranged from the creation of a sovereign wealth fund, tax breaks, the purchase of more vehicles made locally and improving export potentials of Australia's food industry. The report also cited the carbon tax, which hiked electricity prices, for increasing the cost of production,

The taskforce was created by Ms Gillard in 2011 to help Aussie manufacturers cope with pressures from the strong Australian currency, higher labour costs and other pressures caused by the mining boom.

It called for the amelioration of the impact of the $23 carbon price for businesses that extensively use energy and for monitoring and refinement of industry assistance provided to emitters.

It also recommended linking Australia's carbon price scheme with international carbon trading schemes and assistance for enterprises to implement energy efficiency measures.

The report also seeks new skills package that would enable manufacturing workers to adapt to new technologies and improve the competitiveness of production lines.

Shadow minister for industries Sophie Mirabella said the federal government must address the concerns raised by the taskforce report over the impact of the carbon tax which she describes as an elephant in the room with a devastating impact on costs for the manufacturing sector.

"This Labor government has already fundamentally ignored key recommendations of major reviews in the Innovation and Industry portfolio - like the Cutler Review, the Bracks Review and the CRC Review - so no one should have any confidence that they will end up implementing the finding of this one," Ms Mirabella said in a statement.

The taskforce is made up of Ms Gillard, senior ministers, heads of the Australian Confederation of Trade Unions and other unions, the Australian Industry Group and chief executives of OneSteel, Boeing, Holden and Kraft.

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