By Gregor Ferguson Why is innovation important to a defence force? Because a small country deploying a small defence force won’t derive either an operational advantage or an economic advantage from trying to do the same thing as everybody else, only cheaper. Innovation – in equipment, organisation and process – is the difference between being…
Bootmaker RM Williams will reshore those parts of its manufacturing operations currently overseas, according to media reports. The AFR reported iron ore billionaire Andrew Forrest as saying he would spend ‘whatever it takes’ to return 35 per cent of production currently overseas to our shores. RM Williams makes its iconic bushman’s boots and belts at…
Australia’s Sentient ViDAR system has won a contract for test and development by global defence giant Lockheed Martin for rotary intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capability. The program opens the door to export opportunities and integration with the company’s Sikorsky MH-60R & Lockheed Martin sensor suites. Locally developed by Melbourne’s Sentient Vision, Sentient ViDar (Visual…
China’s punitive tariffs on Australian wine have slashed wine exports to the middle kingdom to a trickle. Australian makers sent only $3.5 million worth of wine to China in December, down from $162.9 million in October according to figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics. Red wine exports fell from $159.9 million in October to…
Eight companies have been awarded a total of $3.4 million under the latest round of the Sovereign Industrial Capability Program. The SICP offers between $50,000 and $1 million in dollar-matched funding to SMEs in defence, for companies contributing to local capabilities, and aims to build the capacity and resilience of Australian small-to-medium sized business. The latest round…
A three-month recycling program is underway, partnering Bathurst Regional Council with Textile Recyclers Australia.
The federal government is to spend up to $5 billion to build eight new mine hunter and hydrographic ships in Western Australia, more than the most recent promise of building three ships. The new ships add to the 45 small vessels already being built at the Henderson marine engineering area south of Perth at a…
Japanese trading giant Sumitomo Corporation is to add green hydrogen to its efforts to produce hydrogen in Australia for export to Asia, according to the company. The company will set up a production facility in Gladstone, Queensland with engineering company JGC Holdings to produce green hydrogen using small solar-powered electrolysers. Investment of $9.6 million will…
Adelaide outdoor blind manufacturer Ziptrack plans to boost innovation and production, including exports, from a new $10 million factory it is constructing at the Tonsley Innovation District. Construction of the new 3,000 square metre premises is underway with the company sourcing $1 million worth of equipment for the move to Tonsley, a mixed education, R&D…
Fortescue Metals Group founder Andrew Forrest stunned investors when he committed to massive investments in green hydrogen and green steel production in his recent Boyer lecture. Here is the full text of this landmark speech. The Boyer lectures are traditionally lectures – a speaker lecturing Australia about what it should do. I’ve chosen a different…
