Australian Advanced Manufacturing Council comment

“Today’s announcement by the Acting Minister for Industry, Innovation and Science, Michaelia Cash, that Australia is to establish a national Space Agency, is an exciting and welcome boost for Australian industry and particularly the country’s advanced manufacturing and technology sectors,” John Pollaers, Chairman of the Australian Advanced Manufacturing Council (AAMC) said today.

“The aim of the agency is ‘to ensure the nation has a long-term plan that supports the development and application of space technologies and grows our domestic space industry’. This would be a key indicator of Australia’s willingness to successfully ride the wave of technology that is regenerating commercial interest in space, and get our fair share of the economic benefits.

“In conjunction with our current defence procurement program, it gives local companies the promise of a deep pipeline of opportunity to build on our existing capacities in aerospace and related sectors, for local projects and for export. And as is the case in the defence sector, successful companies find opportunities arise in many other sectors.

“For the opportunities to be fully realised, it will require the continued nurturing of our most innovative and globally competitive industry players – they need access to the global pool of specialised skills coupled with a responsive local skilling system that includes a focus on STEM; intense industry-research collaboration and R&D culture; close government-industry links to quickly understand and react to emerging opportunities that rapidly advancing technology frontiers present; and a bipartisan approach to the fundamental policy settings to underpin long-term planning and investments,” Mr Pollaers said.

Further Information
John Pollaers: 0457 526 330
Mark Goodsell (AAMC Executive Director): 0418 408 871