Consultation has opened today on the Australian Government’s $523 million Battery Breakthrough Initiative, being delivered by the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA). Announced in the 2024-25 Federal Budget in May, the Battery Breakthrough Initiative aims to fund projects that enhance the development of Australia’s battery manufacturing capability to improve supply chain resilience and provide opportunities…
Australia has formally joined the US-led Landsat Next satellite programme in a humiliating endpoint to out abandonment of an indigenous Earth Observation Satellite (EOS) R&D development. Developing our own EOS was a victim of cuts meted out to the Department of Industry, Science and Resources in the first Chalmers budget, cuts which shocked the science…
By Peter Roberts Are we witnessing daily the eclipse of the federal Department of Industry, Science and Resources (DISR) and its minister Ed Husic? I ask this question for a number of reasons, not the least of which is the shuffle of the federal ministry which overlooked Husic while promoting the Assistant Minister for Manufacturing,…
Australia’s resources and energy export earnings are forecast to normalise over the next two years as commodity prices return to long-term levels following a price spike brought about by Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. The June 2024 Resources and Energy Quarterly (REQ) from the Department of Industry, Science and Resources estimates export earnings of $417 billion…
The federal government will roll out of more than 420 community batteries across the country in a move it says is lowering household power bills and boosting reliability in the electricity grid. The Australian Renewable Energy Agency will support up to 370 community batteries as part of Round 1 of its Community Batteries Fund, an…
Today we conclude our editorial series – Towards 3% R&D – Turbocharging Australia’s Innovation Effort – in which @AuManufacturing has exposed the issues eroding Australian R&D. In this edited excerpt Dr John Howard proposes A National Business R&D Strategy and Action Plan. Download the full paper at the foot of this article. The structure of…
By Peter Roberts It seems a long time ago that Australia was in the grip of the Covid-19 pandemic and novel mRNA technologies were hot news. Though the technology had been around for decades it was the pandemic which saw the first major vaccines made using the genetic technology approved for public use in 2020,…
