Kylie Walker’s Post

This year’s federal budget is making up for decades of lost time – both in our clean energy transition and in betting on new technological breakthroughs. But are the investments announced in this budget in the right places if we’re really going to prime a future-ready Australia underpinned by science and technology? Hear from ATSE CEO Kylie Walker on the significant investments aimed at boosting key areas in The Conversation Australia + NZ. 🔗 https://lnkd.in/dB5EH2Z5

The 2024 Federal Budget is a step in the right direction for the kind of strategic investment needed to tackle the energy transition, sovereign capability and our economy. It also plants the seeds for future growth. But as we race to meet our net-zero ambitions, will it meet the objectives? Read more from Engineers Australia CEO Romilly Madew AO FTSE HonFIEAust EngExec ⬇ #Budget2024 #economy #netzero

Attracting green investment will be crucial to build a strong UK economy for the future. In a new Insight blog, Ben P. reflects on our latest events featuring leaders from politics and civil society, as well as our new Programme for Government, outlining how their insights can help to deliver the finance needed for #netzero. https://lnkd.in/ef7-Tise

"But on the question of how exactly #Australia could strike it rich in this new 'green rush', the PM was short on detail." No surprise in the above. I can tell you from direct experience that what they are not doing is talking to (let alone assisting) those Australian companies that can achieve the greatest benefit. Words are one thing, actions though speak louder. How many Australian developed solar technologies over the last two decades made their way to China to grow their industry & global dominance? There is a reason for this & it has little to do with China own policy & everything to do with how our own politicians lack of care for their own country & personal greed. Is there a register of ex politicians who have highly paid management or consulting positions with other countries companies here in Australia? I am sure it would be enlightening. Talk of 'competing' is empty in this environment driven by influence & favors. I cannot count the number of conventional & advanced manufacturing opportunities we have uncovered over the years developing our own #biomass / #biorefinery technology. This is without the enhanced returns & increased global #competitiveness its widespread use would bring to a host of #industry sectors here. Or the number of #regional countries & International #banks who came to us because they saw it in action themselves & who did real due diligence, but which still need our own governments blessing & support to act, which is not forthcoming. So Anthony Albanese if what you are doing is genuine we are happy to discuss. We are not far from your office, just a world away from the vested & failed policy initiatives normally practiced. https://lnkd.in/ggap5R-6

The best time for Australia to invest in the clean energy revolution was a decade ago. But the next best time is immediately, right now. What hasn't changed is our incredibly fortunate position with abundant resources, skills and IP which equip us well to prosper from this once in a lifetime opportunity. Bold and brave policy is what it takes to send an impactful signal to the investment community that Australia is open for business. The shift away from a carbon-intensive economy is in motion, and this leaves little room for sceptics to doubt it. Pending details next month, this could be Anthony Albanese's enduring legacy and many Australians will be watching in anticipation. #cleanenergyrevolution #restructuringtheeconomy #auspol #cleanenergy #energytransition #australianmanufacturing #manufacturingaustralia #sovereigncapability #localcontent #renewableenergy #cleantech #futuremadeinaustralia #makeaustraliamakeagain #nationalreconstructionfund #netzeroeconomy

Interesting report out by think tank IPPR today, observing that the UK has had the lowest level of #investment in the G7 for 24 of the last 30 years, with a direct impact on economic growth and living standards. The report highlights the importance for the next Government to commit to a clear, low carbon industrial strategy backed by a degree of public investment in infrastructure and supportive policies to unlock private investment in areas such as energy efficiency, low carbon heat, renewables and power grids, low carbon industrial plants in sectors like steel / cement and more: https://lnkd.in/edBjThcY #netzero #climate

This Federal Budget, the Australian Government is investing in taking advantage of the global shift to net zero. Through the Future Made in Australia package, the Australian Government is helping to facilitate the private sector investment needed for Australia to be an indispensable part of the global economy. Here’s a snapshot of the package: - Creating the Future Made in Australia Act to establish a National Interest Framework that identifies priority industries and ensures investments associated with them are responsible and targeted. - Investing $399 million to establish the Net Zero Economy Authority and support the economy‑wide net zero transformation. - Delivering the $44.4 million Energy Industry Jobs Plan via the Net Zero Economy Agency and providing $134.2 million for skills and employment support in key regions - Strengthening and streamlining approvals to support better decisions on environmental, energy, planning, cultural heritage and foreign investment approvals - Providing $65 billion of investment in renewable capacity through the Capacity Investment Scheme by 2030 - Providing $27.7 million to integrate consumer energy resources like batteries and solar into the grid - Creating the $1.7 billion Future Made in Australia Innovation Fund and delivering a 10‑year extension of funding to the Australian Renewable Energy Agency (ARENA) - Establishing time‑limited incentives to invest in new industries, including the Hydrogen Production Tax Incentive which will make Australia’s pipeline of hydrogen projects commercial sooner - Expanding the Hydrogen Headstart program by $1.3 billion - Investing $8.8 billion over the decade to add more value to our resources and strengthen critical minerals supply chains - Committing $1.5 billion to manufacturing clean energy technologies, including the $1 billion Solar Sunshot and $523.2 million Battery Breakthrough Initiative - Expanding eligibility to the New Energy Apprenticeships Program to include work in the clean energy sector, including in construction and advanced manufacturing. You can read more about the Future Made in Australia package via the Federal Budget website: https://lnkd.in/efQm83j2 #Budget2024 #cleaneconomy #FutureMadeinAustralia #NetZero #NetZeroTransition

Investor Group on Climate Change (IGCC) members Rest HESTA IFM Investors Pollination highlighted how the Future Made in Australia Act can be critical to a prosperous economy. There are a lot of views on Future Made in Australia so for context from an investor POV:    All investors are different. However, one thing they do have in common is they invest across the entire economy and have a legal duty to deliver, directly or indirectly, the best returns for millions of Australian’s superannuation.   This means that they are not just interested in investing in particular assets (e.g. renewables, critical minerals, etc.) but also that they have a vested interest in the state of the overall economy. There is no point investing in new tyres for a car that is about to be written off.   This is why a proactive approach to transition in Australia is necessary. There are very substantial economic risks to the nation unless we transition to net zero in a smart, fair and well-planned way. As legacy industries such as fossil fuels decline, and our competitors accelerate investment in clean industries, we risk missing out on the investment and job opportunities with the transition and exposing out economy to significant economic risks, e.g. loss of tax revenue from fossil fuel royalties, and significant economic, social and employment declines in communities currently dependent on fossil fuels exports. Finally, a critical point is that investors do not advocate for unnecessary subsidies but do require a supportive, credible, consistent and stable policy environment that will facilitate private investment by reducing policy-related sovereign and transition risks. Future Made in Australia is an important part of Australia’s policy mix to ensure we remain a competitive location for investment. https://lnkd.in/gXJMt8iT

The Senate’s Future Made in Australia review, released on Friday, has dissentions. Are the dissentions about demanding the perfect when urgency requires us to be realistic?  𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝗥𝗲𝗺𝗼𝘃𝗲 𝗮𝗹𝗹 𝘀𝘂𝗯𝘀𝗶𝗱𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗳𝗼𝘀𝘀𝗶𝗹 𝗳𝘂𝗲𝗹𝘀. Concern: No investment in fossil fuels will reduce the opportunity to process critical minerals because heat sourced from renewable energy comes at huge upfront capital cost. To remain globally competitive processing will need to use natural gas for process heat until renewable energy is affordable. 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝗙𝘂𝗻𝗱 𝗲𝗹𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗿𝗶𝗳𝗶𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻 𝗼𝗳 𝗔𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗵𝗼𝘂𝘀𝗲𝗵𝗼𝗹𝗱𝘀 𝗮𝗻𝗱 𝗯𝘂𝘀𝗶𝗻𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀. Concern: Electrification products are not manufactured in Australia. Subsidising electrification products will provide economic benefit primarily to China. 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀 𝗺𝘂𝘀𝘁 𝗯𝗲 𝗰𝗼𝗻𝘀𝘂𝗹𝘁𝗲𝗱 𝗯𝗲𝗳𝗼𝗿𝗲 𝗳𝘂𝗻𝗱𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗶𝘀 𝗮𝗹𝗹𝗼𝗰𝗮𝘁𝗲𝗱. Concern: Clean-tech companies are navigating a brutal investment environment. Waiting for exhaustive review will tip the scales toward taking IP offshore. The FMIA has already identified priority industries! 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝗗𝗲𝘃𝗲𝗹𝗼𝗽𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝗦𝗲𝗰𝘁𝗼𝗿 𝗔𝘀𝘀𝗲𝘀𝘀𝗺𝗲𝗻𝘁𝘀.Concern: Australia’s weak economic complexity means that specialised knowledge is in short supply even within Treasuries and the Productivity Commission. Sector Assessments will slow commercialisation down. 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝗦𝘂𝗽𝗽𝗼𝗿𝘁 𝗳𝗼𝗿 𝗔𝘂𝘀𝘁𝗿𝗮𝗹𝗶𝗮𝗻 𝗼𝗿 𝗽𝘂𝗯𝗹𝗶𝗰𝗹𝘆 𝗼𝘄𝗻𝗲𝗱 𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗽𝗮𝗻𝗶𝗲𝘀 𝗼𝗻𝗹𝘆. Concern: The Australian investor pool with the appropriate risk-profile is very small. We are dependent on making Australian clean-tech manufacturing attractive to foreign investors and owners. 𝗥𝗲𝗰𝗼𝗺𝗺𝗲𝗻𝗱𝗮𝘁𝗶𝗼𝗻: 𝗔𝘃𝗼𝗶𝗱 𝗽𝗶𝗰𝗸𝗶𝗻𝗴 𝘄𝗶𝗻𝗻𝗲𝗿𝘀. Concern: To support new industries governments need to take on risk to target private investment to strategic industries. After the GFC, the US Government provided loan guarantees to Solyndra (US$566m) and Tesla (US$465m) as stimulus and to speed up clean-tech. Tesla emerged successful but Solyndra failed. President Obama’s insight in October 2011 was: ‘𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘊𝘩𝘪𝘯𝘢, 𝘸𝘩𝘪𝘤𝘩 𝘪𝘴 𝘱𝘰𝘶𝘳𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘩𝘶𝘯𝘥𝘳𝘦𝘥𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘣𝘪𝘭𝘭𝘪𝘰𝘯𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘥𝘰𝘭𝘭𝘢𝘳𝘴 𝘪𝘯𝘵𝘰 𝘵𝘩𝘪𝘴 𝘴𝘱𝘢𝘤𝘦, 𝘪𝘧 𝘸𝘦 𝘸𝘢𝘯𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘤𝘰𝘮𝘱𝘦𝘵𝘦 𝘸𝘪𝘵𝘩 𝘰𝘵𝘩𝘦𝘳 𝘤𝘰𝘶𝘯𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘢𝘳𝘦 𝘩𝘦𝘢𝘷𝘪𝘭𝘺 𝘴𝘶𝘣𝘴𝘪𝘥𝘪𝘻𝘪𝘯𝘨 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘪𝘯𝘥𝘶𝘴𝘵𝘳𝘪𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘧𝘶𝘵𝘶𝘳𝘦, 𝘸𝘦’𝘷𝘦 𝘨𝘰𝘵 𝘵𝘰 𝘮𝘢𝘬𝘦 𝘴𝘶𝘳𝘦 𝘵𝘩𝘢𝘵 𝘰𝘶𝘳 𝘨𝘶𝘺𝘴 𝘩𝘦𝘳𝘦 𝘪𝘯 𝘵𝘩𝘦 𝘜𝘯𝘪𝘵𝘦𝘥 𝘚𝘵𝘢𝘵𝘦𝘴 𝘰𝘧 𝘈𝘮𝘦𝘳𝘪𝘤𝘢 𝘢𝘵 𝘭𝘦𝘢𝘴𝘵 𝘩𝘢𝘷𝘦 𝘢 𝘴𝘩𝘰𝘵’. Battery-tech in Australia could help rebuild manufacturing to benefit from the global energy transition, but it needs pragmatic interventions not perfect ones.

Europe is at a juncture where political resistance to decarbonisation is mounting and where budgetary means to buy off consent are becoming scarce, at both EU and national levels. To get the Green Deal done, a new investment strategy is needed https://lnkd.in/duhDJM6t