Today in our editorial series – Towards 3% R&D – Turbocharging Australia’s Innovation Effort – we turn to the role of national industry policy. Here Roy Green points to innovation and the success of a Future Made in Australia as intertwined. While lacking detail at this stage, the significance of Prime Minister Albanese’s Future Made…
By Peter Roberts The federal government has flagged greater government intervention to nurture industry with a proposed enabling Future Made in Australia Act to set the scene for a more activist industry policy future. According to a speech to be delivered today to Queensland Press Club and leaked to media outlets, the Act is a…
By Brent Balinski The Industry Growth Program, offering grants between $50,000 and $5 million to SME and startup commercialisation projects, started accepting applications on Monday. It will no doubt be useful to a long list of companies. However, the replacement for the Entrepreneurs’ Programme does nothing to address some bigger, more immediate problems. The mood…
By Peter Roberts Australian economists have long been seen by manufacturers as the enemy as, led by those staffing the Productivity Commission, they have vigorously fought against any form of activist industry policy by government. The view is that policing backing even new industry such as green energy technologies, 3D printing or critical metals processing…
By Elizabeth Thurbon, UNSW Sydney; Alexander M. Hynd, UNSW Sydney, and Hao Tan, University of Newcastle This week, a diverse group of organisations called on the Australian federal government to establish a A$100 billion, ten-year policy package to turbocharge Australia’s green energy transition. Proposed by groups including the Australian Council of Trade Unions, Australian Conservation…
By Peter Roberts That old industrial relic the Productivity Commission has released its latest Trade and Assistance Review, 2021-22 (TAR), and you have to hand it to them, they are really on the ball. Having spent past decades searching out the evil of tariffs and non tariff trade barriers, they have now woken up to…
By Peter Roberts Australia’s new Critical Minerals Strategy aims to increase the value added onshore to Australia’s vast mineral resources, rather than simply exporting undifferentiated mineral commodities. However it stops short of being the comprehensive policy we need to develop value-added industries. The strategy sets out a vision to grow our critical minerals wealth, create…
What were the five biggest stories of the week? Here’s what visitors to this site were reading. 5) Rio Tinto to bring iron ore rail car manufacturing to the Pilbara Mining company Rio Tinto will partner with Gemco Rail to bring local iron ore rail car manufacturing and bearing maintenance to the Pilbara region in…
