{"id":224096,"date":"2021-07-01T20:01:40","date_gmt":"2021-07-01T20:01:40","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.innovationaus.com\/?p=19799"},"modified":"2021-07-01T20:01:40","modified_gmt":"2021-07-01T20:01:40","slug":"pm-to-get-final-say-on-800m-manufacturing-grants","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/radiofree.asia\/2021\/07\/01\/pm-to-get-final-say-on-800m-manufacturing-grants\/","title":{"rendered":"PM to get final say on $800m manufacturing grants"},"content":{"rendered":"

The guidelines for<\/strong> the<\/strong> collaboration stream of the federal government\u2019s flagship manufacturing program have been released, with grants of up to $200 million for large \u201ctransformation\u201d projects to be accepted from next month \u2013 and the Prime Minister Scott Morrison to have the final say on approvals.<\/p>\n

The $800 million in grants will be available under the collaboration stream of the government\u2019s flagship $1.3 billion Modern Manufacturing Initiative, which aims to stimulate business investment in manufacturing by addressing barriers to scale and competitiveness for Australian companies in six priority sectors.<\/p>\n

On Thursday, guidelines were published for the collaboration stream grants, which offer between $20 million and $200 million to cover up to a third of the costs of eligible large-scale projects.<\/p>\n

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$800 million of grants are on offer for large manufacturing projects that include collaboration<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Projects must include business-to-business or business-to-research collaboration, according to the guidelines, which say collaborations can range from joint ventures and shared facilities to even \u201cinformal collaborative interactions such as networking and discussing and sharing ideas and information\u201d.<\/p>\n

\u201cRegardless of the form or type of collaboration, projects must demonstrate that they will generate real and meaningful collaborations that will allow manufacturing businesses to achieve scale, become more competitive, create new jobs and help to upskill the Australian manufacturing workforce,\u201d the guidelines say.<\/p>\n

The federal government will fund up to a third of successful projects, and other federal government funding sources and state programs can be used for up to 65 per cent, but at least 35 per cent must be from a non-government source.<\/p>\n

Projects must be large scale \u2013 at least $60 million in eligible expenditure \u2013 and be completed by March 2024. It must also be part of the government\u2019s six priority areas \u2013 space, medical products, resources and critical minerals, food and beverage, Defence, and recycling and clean energy \u2013 and show potential to expand or promote interstate or international trade.<\/p>\n

Equal weighting will be given to applicants\u2019 projects alignment with the priority sectors, benefit to Australia, capacity to deliver the project and access to finance. The assessment and negotiation process is expected to take up to 19 weeks.<\/p>\n

Industry Innovation and Science Australia will review applications and advise the Minister for Industry, Science and Technology, currently Christian Porter, who will recommend projects to the Prime Minister for a final decision.<\/p>\n

The Prime Minister will also be able to impose specific conditions on grants, according to the guidelines.<\/p>\n

Industry Innovation and Science Australia\u2019s current board members are:<\/p>\n