By Peter Roberts ASC which built and sustains Australia’s Collins Class submarines in Adelaide has embarked on an ambitious project to fully digitise its shipyard operations. It is not clear whether the investment in Adelaide and Perth will put an end end speculation that further major Collins sustainment work could be shifted to Western Australia.…
By Peter Roberts A patch of dirt in Dubbo, NSW and a lot of hard work are starting to pay off as a second Australian rare earths producer becomes a reality in the form of Australian Strategic Materials. In the past week ASM received firm commitments from sophisticated investors to raise $65 million to kick-start…
SEA Electric buys big in batteries to cut costs Truck and van electric vehicle drive train manufacturer SEA Electric has put in a massive order from Soundon New Energy Technology for 1,000 EV battery sets. Soundon has been supplying SEA Electric since 2012, with the new purchase cutting kilowatt hour costs by 36 per cent.…
CSIRO-backed non-animal based foods business Nourish Ingredients has raised $14.5 million (US$11 million) in seed funding to accelerate commercialsation of its animal-free fermented fats and oils. CEO James Petrie said the company has secured an initial funding round co-led by leading venture capitalists Horizons Ventures and Main Sequence Ventures. Main Sequence is the venture arm…
Six Australian small businesses have shared in more than $1.3 million in federal government grants designed to boost their export potential. Defence industry Melissa Price today announced the latest recipients of grants under the Defence Global Competitiveness Grant Program. Price said: “We are helping businesses around the country to upgrade their manufacturing processes and equipment…
A strong performance in its property portfolio and investments, and a recovering Australian economy has held up Brickworks profits in the first half of the 2021 financial year. The company reported net profit after tax up 22 per cent to $71 million for the six months. However, underlying earnings before interest and tax (EBIT) was…
Pharmaceutical developer Starpharma has secured United Kingdom distribution for its Viraleze antiviral nasal spray. The Melbourne company has signed a sales and distribution agreement with LloydsPharmacy which operates 1,400 pharmacy stores in the UK and is part of international pharma distributor group McKesson. McKesson supplies more than 14,000 pharmacies across the UK. Viraleze spray, which…
Southern Launch has become the first company to be granted a rocket launch facility licence by the federal government, opening the way for commercial sub-orbital launches from its Koonibba Test Range in regional South Australia (pictured). Industry minister Karen Andrews said today ensuring a regulatory framework that balances safety and entrepreneurism is crucial to growing…
The disused open cut Kidston gold mine in Queensland is to be repurposed into a massive pumped hydro electricity storage system. The Australian Reneawable Energy Agency (ARENA) has announced $47 million in funding for Genex to construct a pumped hydro system to store energy from a 50 MW solar farm that is already operating and…
Analysis by Peter Roberts It seems the federal government push to involve our typical SME manufacturers with major defence projects is paying off in all sorts of unexpected ways. Australia has been quietly progressing research into flight at hypersonic speeds – faster than five times the speed of sound – for decades. It is the…
