Jindera, NSW-based grain silo maker SilOz goes back to the 1970s and is almost a year into its current ownership. As a maker of products based on Australian steel, its history reflects some of the shifts in the local steel sector over the decades. “It used to be a part of the Smorgon Group, which…
By Nicholas Way Bert Manning of Mittagong in New South Wales has always loved fixing and making things, especially if they are well designed, well made and use the best of materials. So much so that he started his first business back in the 1990s, manufacturing stainless steel exhaust systems before moving on to augers…
Today our fourth Celebrating Australian Made editorial series begins, coinciding with Australian Made Week 2024 (Monday May 20 to Sunday May 26.) It’s that time of year again, when Australians show a bit of love for goods made here, those who make them, and the value of supporting them. Australian Made Week was first marked…
By Nicholas Way For nearly two decades, the Bawa family-owned business, Sunrise International, has been supplying the market with an extensive and specialist range of trailer parts and accessories. Starting in Melbourne in 2005, it now has two manufacturing plants there – Sunshine in the west and Chelsea Heights in the south – employing about…
By Ian Lowe, Griffith University For decades, Australia has exported uranium – but not used it, other than in the Lucas Heights research reactor. But change is coming. We now face a rapidly deepening commitment to the nuclear industry, through nuclear submarines (bipartisan support) or nuclear reactors (Coalition support). The Albanese government was quick to accept…
By Kylie Walker, Australian National University This year’s federal budget is making up for decades of lost time – both in our clean energy transition and in betting on new technological breakthroughs. The Future Made in Australia Act holds tantalising potential for building Australian science, research and development. The aim is to turn Australia into…
A loss of sovereign control of industry is a key issue raised in our editorial series – Towards 3% R&D – Turbocharging Australia’s Innovation Effort – Here, Allen Roberts examines innovation in the critical food manufacturing sector. The recent declaration of ‘A Future Made in Australia’ by the Prime Minister Anthony Albanese has put the…
By Yasir Arafat, Edith Cowan University and Daryoush Habibi, Edith Cowan University As electric vehicle (EV) demand accelerates, so does the need for lithium batteries. But these batteries contain valuable critical minerals, as well as toxic materials, so they should not be treated as common waste. Unlike China and some European countries, Australia lacks a…
Today in our editorial series – Towards 3% R&D – Turbocharging Australia’s Innovation Effort – Dr Matthew Young looks at the Australian government’s aim of close to doubling R&D spending to the equivalent of 3% of GDP, and concludes it might be better to set a better goal. Advocating for an increase in Australia’s national…
Pharmaceutical manufacturer IDT Australia has announced that it has been awarded a Victorian government grant to assist in the establishment of an Australian-first facility for oncology drugs. In an ASX statement on Monday, IDT said it has established relationships with Antibody-Drug-Conjugate (ADC) biotech companies, including a master services agreement with Japanese pharmaceutical company Nagase &…
