By Peter Roberts I have just been reminded by a former colleague of the bad old days when policy, any policy, favouring manufacturing was seen as protectionism and picking winners. Those times lasted for decades, with the Productivity Commission and the Coalition weaponising the words against manufacturers. My former colleague asked: what government policy is…
Nufarm rides good farming conditions to rising profit Agricultural seeds and crop protection manufacturer Nufarm has ridden agricultural commodities at above average levels to report underlying net profit after tax up seven percent on the previous corresponding period to $142 million in the six months to 31 March, 2023. Gross profit was $609 million, while…
Rare earths and metals producer Australian Strategic Materials has announced a strategic partnership with US based rare earth magnet manufacturer Noveon Magnetics Inc. ASM, which is developing the Dubbo rare earths project in NSW, will supply Noveon with neodymium iron boron (NdFeB) alloy needed to make permanent magnets from ASM’s Korean Metals Plant (KMP). Ores…
By Peter Roberts Much of the federal government’s 2023 budget has been leaked in advance, but Treasurer Jim Chalmers held back a few morsels including good news for the Industry Growth Centres in his official budget speech delivered in Canberra tonight. In a budget the government characterised as prudent – it predicts a rare surplus…
SME business has taken a rather dim view to the long timelines associated with industry opportunities that could arise from the AUKUS agreement between Australia, the UK and the US. Here Paul van de Loo takes a jaundiced view, and presents an alternative industrial scenario. The AUKUS agreement has captured a lot of airtime lately.…
Yesterday in our series – Celebrating Australian sovereign capability – Lance Worrall argued that sovereign capability is about a nation making things it needs, and policy with purpose. Today he identifies Australia’s priority sovereign capability sectors, and reveals where we are falling short. Over 30 years Australia overdosed on neoliberalism. The patient’s disorders include deindustrialisation…
By Peter Roberts At a Thursday media conference on the passing of the National Reconstruction Fund (NRF) Corporation Bill by the lower house the media focused questioning of Industry and Science Minister Ed Husic on the government’s acceptance of a Greens amendment, what it meant for fossil fuels, and more generally, on value-adding of Australia’s…
BluGlass GaN lasers are meeting performance benchmarks ASX-listed semiconductor developer BluGlass said on Thursday that gallium nitride laser diodes produced at its Silicon Valley production facility are now achieving or exceeding contract manufacturer performance benchmarks. According to the company, testing of the first lasers processed at its Fremont fab are demonstrating electrical and light-output performance…
Next generation Hadrian X robot completed Perth robotic technology company FBR has completed mechanical assembly of the first next-generation Hadrian X bricklaying robotic system. The next-generation Hadrian X is designed to be able to lay at speeds of up to 500 blocks per hour, equating to up to ~120m2 of wall per hour. This has…
Boeing Australia delivers last 747 parts Boeing Australia’s Melbourne factory has delivered its last component manufactured locally for the Boeing 747 aircraft (pictured). Boeing has produced its last 747 which brings to an end decades of involvement by Australians in the programme. More than 55,000 Melbourne made parts have been delivered to the company’s Everett,…
