Newly Announced Economic Accelerator to Propel Economy
As part of the Morrison Government’s focus on strengthening Australia’s resilience, a new $1.6b economic accelerator which looks to turn research programs and initiatives into world-class businesses has been announced Tuesday, 1 February.
Australia’s Economic Accelerator (AEA) options as a part of a $2.2 billion bundle to focus the commercialisation of the six nationwide manufacturing precedence areas:
- Resources Technology & Critical Minerals Processing
- Food & Beverage
- Medical Products
- Recycling & Clean Energy
- Defence
- Space
“The key policy challenge surrounds the so-called ‘Valley of Death,’ where early stage research is frequently not progressed to later stages of development because of the risk and uncertainty about commercial returns.” said Prime Minister Morrison. “Stronger commercialisation of research and ideas will mean a stronger economy and a stronger future for Australia.”
He said the new program would help bridge that gap by investing in programs with strong commercial potential. It will work in stages by providing lots of small grants initially and then fewer but more valuable grants in subsequent rounds of funding. It is worth 1.6 billion Australian dollars ($1.1 billion) and is part of a larger 2.2 billion Australian dollar package.
He said his government had been too optimistic about the pandemic ahead of the Australian summer and then had to make “massive changes” when case numbers skyrocketed with the omicron variant of coronavirus.
Minister Robert said the Morrison Government would also invest $296 million in industry-focused PhDs and fellowships to support its research commercialisation goals and drive greater university-industry collaboration.
“This new scheme will generate 1,800 industry PhDs and over 800 industry fellows over 10 years to fundamentally reshape the workforce of Australia’s universities,” Minister Robert said.
Morrison faces a tough election challenge from opposition leader Anthony Albanese, whose Labor Party has been leading the government coalition in some opinion polls. Morrison has yet to announce a date for the election, which must be held by May 21.
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