Nicolle Flint (Boothby, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Industry, Science and Technology. Would the minister outline to the House how the Morrison government is supporting the road to recovery from the economic effects of the coronavirus pandemic by backing innovative Australian businesses to take their products to the world and be part of global supply chains?

Karen Andrews (McPherson, Liberal Party, Minister for Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for her question. While businesses and communities across our nation have been suffering from many, many restrictions and challenges as part of COVID-19, it's very important that we also make sure that we are focusing on our future. Our government understands that the key to our economic recovery is making sure that our businesses are resilient, that they are competitive and that they are in a position that they can scale up to take on the world, and that's exactly what we are doing.

Last week I opened new grants for Australian businesses so that they can be part of the global space industry supply chain and participate in NASA's Moon to Mars project. Let me be clear: this is not money that is going to NASA; this is money that is going to Australian businesses so that they can be part of the supply chain for that Moon to Mars project. The member for Boothby has visited the Australian Space Agency and Lot Fourteen a number of times, so she is very much aware of the Australian Space Agency and the work that they are doing—specifically, the work that they are doing to help our businesses to grow. We are making sure that we do continue to support the Australian space industry as it grows to achieve the target of tripling in size by 2030.

There's also work that we are doing to support businesses that have already developed some great innovations but need some assistance to take those products to market. We have in place a program, the Accelerating Commercialisation grants program, and I recently announced that there were 12 Australian businesses that were going to share in $5 million worth of grant funding to take their products to the world. That includes $500,000 for Fireball International for their pioneering product to detect and report on bushfires. Fireball's system means that fires can be detected in, quite frankly, about three minutes, which is exactly one of the products that we need to be supporting. There are other products that we are also supporting as part of this program, including a project that turns waste into activated carbon, and a new system that enhances flavour and storage of food products. This is Aussie ingenuity at its absolute best, and that's exactly what we need at this point in time. We understand that economic recovery is not just about keeping businesses in business but about helping them grow and create the jobs of the future.