May 13, 2022
US President Joe Biden announced in February that Brisbane-based EV charging company Tritium will build a manufacturing facility in Tennessee, while reiterating his commitment to electrify the US government's car fleet. The new plant will produce up to 30,000 EV chargers per year and create 500 local US jobs over the next five years. The facility is expected to house up to six production lines for Tritium’s DC fast chargers, including its award-winning RTM and PKM150 models. Production is scheduled to start in the third quarter of 2022. Tritium CEO Jane Hunter appeared alongside Mr Biden at the White House and said Pres. Biden's policies "have contributed to enormous demand" for Tritium products in the US. This directly led us to pivot and change our global manufacturing strategy. Tritium’s investment in a US-based, cutting-edge facility for manufacturing is part of our strong push toward global growth in support of the e-mobility industry. We are thrilled to work with the US Federal government and the State of Tennessee on this initiative. With the help of the hard-working residents of Tennessee, we expect to double…
May 11, 2022
Supporting the Electrification of Victoria’s Future Fleet is a major project bringing government, university and industry partners together around the expertise and infrastructure needed to support widespread adoption of electric vehicles in Victoria. The $5.2m funding was announced today by the Hon Gayle Tierney MLC under the Victorian Higher Education State Investment Fund (VHESIF). It marks an important step towards the state’s net zero targets, while boosting skills and employment for Melbourne’s pandemic recovery. With transport responsible for around 25% of greenhouse gas emissions in Victoria, Minister Tierney said electrification of transport was critical for tackling climate change, as well as creating new jobs in low-carbon industries. “This is an important project for the future of clean, green transport in Victoria but also for our plan to meet net zero emissions by 2050 through innovative research and the development of new technology,” said Minister Tierney. RMIT Deputy Vice-Chancellor Research and Innovation and Vice-President, Professor Calum Drummond, said activity would focus around a new Electric Vehicle Living Lab with EV…
March 10, 2022
As a result, businesses continue to collect sensitive information about employees, contractors and other visitors to the workplace, including vaccination status information and medical certificates. Information about a person’s vaccination status and medical certificates are ‘personal information’ which must be collected, used and disclosed according to Australian privacy laws, including the Privacy Act 1988 (Cth) (Privacy Act) and associated Australian Privacy Principles. The following outlines the key principles to be aware of and considered regarding privacy obligations when collecting this type of information. In what circumstances can businesses collect vaccination status information about employees, labour hire workers, contractors, volunteers, candidates and other visitors? Vaccination status information is ‘sensitive information’ about an individual and is afforded higher protection under the Privacy Act. This means, generally speaking, a person’s vaccination status must only be collected if: the information is necessary for one or more of the business’ functions or activities; and the individual has consented. Businesses may need to collect vaccination status information to prevent and manage…
March 1, 2022
Minister for Industry Support and Recovery Martin Pakula on 22 February welcomed Hanwha Defense Australia’s announcement that its $170m Armoured Vehicle Centre of Excellence will be established at the Avalon Airport Industrial Precinct. “We’re backing Hanwha to make the Geelong region its home because we know it will grow the economy for years to come,” said Pakula. “Victoria continues to lead the way in advanced manufacturing and this state-of-the-art facility in Avalon will create hundreds of jobs and deliver major benefits for local businesses in the supply chain.” Hanwha will use the new Avalon facility to build self-propelled howitzers to deliver the Commonwealth’s approximately $1bn LAND 8116 program. The investment will strengthen the state’s defence capabilities and create hundreds of highly skilled local jobs in design, engineering and advanced manufacturing. Construction on the 32,000 square metre state-of-the-art facility is expected to start later this year and take two years to complete – creating more than 100 jobs during construction. Richard Cho, Managing Director of Hanwha Defense…
February 17, 2022
New technologies and methods of production are shifting the focus from mass production to more bespoke, advanced, and higher value-added manufacturing. Design and associated service delivery are now as important as the production process itself. The Government’s vision is for Australia to be recognised as a high-quality, skilled and sustainable manufacturing nation that supports a modern and resilient economy. The ability to make things here, and do it well, will drive investment and innovation, grow our exports and create new jobs, including critical high-skilled jobs. The lessons learnt from the COVID-19 pandemic have provided a powerful impetus to increase our self-sufficiency in key sectors, including vaccine production and defence. The pandemic has presented a number of big challenges which our manufacturers have overcome with ingenuity and agility. Many Australian industries have rapidly embraced digital solutions to continue operating. But just when the worst of the crisis seemed to be passing, the Omicron variant has put severe strains upon workforces and supply chains. It is yet another test of the…
February 15, 2022
Western Sydney-based company Custom Denning has been awarded a contract to design, manufacture and assemble 79 new electric buses. Premier Dominic Perrottet and Minister for Transport and Veterans David Elliott toured the St Mary’s factory on 14 February to inspect the production line and meet workers. “This is a true Western Sydney success story and our government is proud to have played a part in this business producing the first locally-built electric bus,” Perrottet said. “Custom Denning employs 160 workers at their St Mary’s factory and this investment will now provide more jobs to ensure our buses are built to the highest standard. “Our government is getting closer to securing a cleaner, healthier future for the people of NSW and at the same time this electric bus transition will generate hundreds of local manufacturing jobs, which is an amazing outcome for our state.” Elliott added that the $70m investment takes the number of bus orders placed with Custom Denning past 100, which will help…
October 12, 2021
Late last year, the only undergraduate course in Australia purposefully designed to recruit and ‘upskill’ industry experienced tradespeople and technology experts to become qualified Vocational Education and Training (VET) and Technologies secondary school teachers was closed. What makes the closure of this program of particular concern to industry is that it has come at a time when the nation is gearing itself – more so than any other time in Australia’s history – for an economic recovery that is dependent on young people wanting to pursue trade and technologies-based vocations. The Federal Government has promised a “pipeline of skilled workers to support sustained economic recovery”, but in order to generate this pipeline, we need appropriately skilled and qualified teachers with industry expertise and a deep knowledge of pedagogy (the science of teaching and learning) to nurture young people’s curiosity and their desire to enter trade and technical career paths after completing their…
September 16, 2021
The new strategy is part of a new trilateral pact between the US, the UK and Australia to collaborate on a range of security initiatives. Entitled AUKUS, the partnership will focus in particular on strategic collaboration in the Indo-Pacific region. Announcing the move, Prime Minister Scott Morrison said: “The first major initiative of AUKUS will be to deliver a nuclear-powered submarine fleet for Australia. Over the next eighteen months we will work together to seek to determine the best way forward to achieve this.” Australia had planned to acquire 12 new Attack-class submarines to replace its existing Collins class fleet, under a $90bn program with French company Naval Group. Representing Australia’s largest-ever defence contract, the program would have seen the subs built in Adelaide. The break fee for scrapping the deal will cost a reported $400m. It is not clear what implications the move will have for Australian manufacturing – in particular those companies that had been engaged in the scrapped program’s supply…
July 6, 2021
Funding between $20m and $200m is available for large-scale projects, cover up to 33% of eligible project expenditure. Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Christian Porter said the Collaboration Stream will see the Government strategically invest in projects that help manufacturers to scale up and create jobs, with investment targeted at supporting projects within the National Manufacturing Priorities. “Australians know that strong, successful manufacturing businesses make for a stronger country,” Minister Porter said. “We want to co-invest in transformative, industry-led proposals that will spur private sector investment, encouraging our manufacturers to draw on each other’s strengths and harness our world class research. “The Collaboration Stream is the largest component of our Modern Manufacturing Strategy, and focuses on long-term transformation in the National Manufacturing Priority areas to support job creation and investment in Australian manufacturing.” The $1.5bn Modern Manufacturing Strategy supports Australian manufacturers to scale up, build resilience, become more competitive and create jobs. The Strategy will harness Australian manufacturing capability…
April 6, 2021
The Government is investing $1.5bn into the Modern Manufacturing Strategy. Manufacturers can apply for a grant to help strengthen their local supply chain, handle mass production, upskill employees, scale up and improve competitiveness. According to Saeid Nikdel, quality management expert at SAI Global, COVID-19 restrictions across the world have impeded availability of goods due to parts and components held up in international supply chains. The problem has highlighted the Australian manufacturing sector’s dependence on overseas markets for the supply of machinery, tools, parts and product components. Most of the machinery brought into Australia comes from the US and Europe, while product components and parts mostly come from China. In the last 12 months, local manufacturers, assemblers and distributors have faced delays almost twice as long as in 2019. “These have impacted their ability to produce local goods” says Nikdel. “Manufacturers have also struggled to scale up operations to meet the increase in demand. It has been a wake-up call for…
February 23, 2021
Businesses with projects in the space sector are the first to be able to apply for grants to help them commercialise ideas or processes, or integrate into global supply chains. Minister for Industry, Science and Technology Karen Andrews said the MMI will build on the billions of dollars in investment to get the economic conditions right – and create meaningful, long-term change for Australian manufacturing. “This matched government funding is designed to support our manufacturers to become competitive, resilient and scale-up to take on the world, which will in turn create jobs for Australians – both now and for generations to come,” said Andrews. “Funding from the MMI will help boost investment in the growth of the manufacturing sector, enhance Australia’s reputation, open up new markets, create new skilled jobs and increase exports.” To guide the types of projects the Government will back in space manufacturing under the MMI, an industry-led road map has also been released. “This road map sets out our vision for manufacturing investment in the…
February 16, 2021
Palaszczuk said Rheinmetall has the full support of the Queensland Government in landing the Phase 3 contract that will deliver 450 infantry fighting vehicles (IFVs) for the Australian Army. “Rheinmetall estimates the Phase 3 project could create an additional 500 jobs in addition to the 450 highly skilled positions being brought to Queensland through their Phase 2 win,” said the Premier. “Rheinmetall’s new Military Vehicle Centre of Excellence (MILVEHCOE) here in Redbank is the most advanced military vehicle manufacturing facility in Australia, if not the world, and it would definitely be a compelling consideration in the Commonwealth’s LAND 400 Phase 3 tender evaluation.” Deputy Premier and Minister for State Development Steven Miles said when the Commonwealth selects its preferred tenderer, Rheinmetall’s MILVEHCOE will be fully operational, fully staffed and will have the necessary supply chains in place delivering on its contracts. “Rheinmetall’s Lynx IFV is specifically developed to meet the Army’s requirements and the Hungarian Government…