Last night's budget very promising for Anteotech , As part of the Federal Government’s continued interest in fixing key manufacturing deficiencies due to the COVID-19 pandemic, the Albanese Government has announced the establishment of a National Reconstruction Fund (‘the Fund’
. The Fund will see to the allocation of $15 billion to partner with the private sector to support investments capable of growing the economy and increasing employment.
Anteotech has 2 good chances to get funding assistance to ramp up sovereign manufacturing of its infectious diseases rapid diagnostics tool and Anteo X's high performance high silicone anode both divisions are on the cusp of commercialisation , Anteotech is in the right space at the right time with its leading all Australian POC and high performance battery technology, fingers crossed for $50 million assistance .
- Medical science – development of medical devices, personal protective equipment, medicines, and vaccines
- Renewables and low emission technologies – battery production, livestock feed to reduce methane emissions, hydrogen technology
Budget October 202226 October 2022
Nicola Purser, Partner, Research & Development
The Fund will see to the allocation of $15 billion to partner with the private sector to support investments capable of growing the economy and increasing employment, with a focus on regional development.
The Fund appears to be a replacement for the Morrison Governments’ Modern Manufacturing Strategy, which saw the delivery of programs such as the $1.3 billion Modern Manufacturing Initiative, the $107.2 million Supply Chain Resilience Initiative, and the $102.8 million Manufacturing Modernisation Fund.
An apparent difference between the two manufacturing strategies is the delivery of funds, with the Labor Government’s strategy seemingly looking to administer funds under the expectation of receiving a return to cover borrowing costs - i.e. will be provided in the form of loans, guarantees and equity.
This is a marked difference to the incumbent Liberal Government’s strategy, which saw the delivery of funds via generous grant programs upon successful applicants meeting pre-stipulated milestones relating to increased employment and other project objectives.
Nevertheless, the key themes remain largely similar between the two strategies, with the delivery of the Fund looking to drive investment in key sectors such as:
- Resources – expansion of mining science technology and increase processing of Australian-extracted raw materials
- Agriculture, forestry, and fisheries – providing value add capabilities to food processing, footwear manufacturing and textile sectors
- Transport – improving supply chains in shipbuilding, and car and train manufacturing
- Medical science – development of medical devices, personal protective equipment, medicines, and vaccines
- Renewables and low emission technologies – battery production, livestock feed to reduce methane emissions, hydrogen technology
- Defence – to compliment Labor’s Defence Industry Development Strategy
- Enabling capabilities – supporting key enabling capabilities across data science and software development.
The introduction of ‘enabling capabilities’ as a key sector is welcome, with data science and software development companies/projects excluded from the previous government’s manufacturing strategies.
However, how this sector will be included in the planned investment schedule is unclear at this stage, with $10 billion to be made available over five years from 2022-27, and an additional $5 billion from 2027-28, with initial investments to be allocated per the below:
- $3 billion - Powering Australia
- $1.5 billion – Medical Manufacturing Fund
- $1 billion – Value Adding in Resources Fund
- $1 billion – Critical Technologies Fund
- $1 billion – Advanced Manufacturing
- $500 million – Agriculture, Fisheries, Food and Fibre.
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