Best of the week — the five most popular stories among readers, September 2 – September 6, 2024

What were the five biggest stories of the week? Here’s what visitors to @AuManufacturing were reading.

5) TAFE NSW Advanced Manufacturing Centre of Excellence announced

The NSW and federal governments have announced combined funding of $53.95 million to support a new TAFE centre in western Sydney to deliver training in engineering, transport and renewable energy.

In a joint statement on Thursday, the governments said the TAFE NSW Advanced Manufacturing Centre of Excellence – Western Sydney at the Wetherill Park Campus will be the first of three centres of excellence and serve 10,000 learners over four years.

An opening date for the new centre was not given.

4) Government orders JSM missile, but no manufacture locally

The federal government has signed a $142 million contract with Norwegian company Kongsberg Defence & Aerospace to acquire the Joint Strike Missile (JSM) air-launched cruise missile from 2025.

The JSM is designed to allow the missile to fit into the F-35A Lightning II internal weapon bay, preserving the aircraft’s stealth characteristics.

With a range of more than 275 kilometres, the JSM’s low-altitude sea-skimming flight profile helps it delay detection and engagement by a target’s defence system.

3) Legrand makes biggest Australian acquisition since HPM in 2007

Following its recent acquisition of VASS Electrical Industries, French-based electrical equipment company Legrand has announced that it will double its size in Australia after buying Australian Plastic Profiles (APP) for an undisclosed sum.

The acquisition is its largest in Australia since HPM in 2007, said Legrand, and follows the buyouts of southwest Sydney-based busway power distribution company VASS in June and New Zealand cable management specialist Mechanical Support Systems (MSS) in December.

Legrand ANZ CEO Palash Nandy said in a statement on Wednesday that buying APP demonstrated their ambitions in the Australian and New Zealand markets and provided a product range complementary to their own.

2) Solar SunShot announced, but has Canberra already decided the winners

The Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) has today opened the first phase of the $1 billion Solar Sunshot program to support development of a solar photovoltaic (PV) manufacturing industry.

It is a great scheme, writes Peter Roberts, but the Sunshot comes with odd conditions that make me wonder whether the government has already made up its mind what projects will get the cash, and where the investments will be made.

1) 200 young workers recruited for n-sub work

The federal government has announced a new Jobs for Subs programme for 200 young workers required for the maintenance of US and UK nuclear submarines in Perth under Submarine Rotational Force – West (SRF-W).

The Nuclear-Powered Submarine Graduate, Apprenticeship and Traineeship initiative is a government-funded recruitment and upskilling program for graduates, apprentices and trainees within ASC.

It will allow ASC to recruit around 200 additional entry-level personnel over the next two years across high priority disciplines and trades essential to the maintenance of nuclear-powered submarines.

Picture: credit ASC