$50 MILLION TO TURBOCHARGE SOUTH AUSTRALIAN DEFENCE JOBS

The Morrison Government will invest $50 million to create a new business and research partnership with the University of Adelaide to help build new defence technologies and products, creating 1,000 new jobs.

 

The University of Adelaide will work with 52 business partners – including 35 small businesses, and the University of New South Wales – to develop and build Australia’s sovereign defence industry in increasingly uncertain times.

 

The project aims to develop 100 new defence products and the University of Adelaide estimates it will create 1,000 new jobs over the next four years.

 

Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the University of Adelaide is the second Australian university to receive funding through the Trailblazer program which is designed to focus Australia’s considerable research power on Australia’s National Manufacturing Priorities.

 

“Our national economic plan is supercharging Australia’s research and development, creating more jobs and helping build a stronger economy for a stronger future,” the Prime Minister said.

 

“We are investing $270 billion in building our sovereign defence capability, creating jobs right around the country, and through our Trailblazer program we will now back in Australia’s brightest and best to develop new defence industry technology and products.”

 

Acting Minister for Education and Youth Stuart Robert said the University of Adelaide and its industry partners have promised $188 million in co-investment, matching public funding by more than 3 to 1.

 

“The investment of industry partners, and especially by the 35 partner small businesses, shows that our homegrown defence firms are hungry to innovate and to help secure Australia in the increasingly uncertain Indo-Pacific strategic environment,” Minister Robert said.

 

“This project will help harness the cutting-edge defence research being done in our top universities, and ensure that our defence forces have access to defence technology at the global cutting-edge, including applications of quantum materials, hypersonics and robotics.

 

“This Trailblazer funding means more jobs right here in Australia, a stronger economy and stronger national defence.”

 

The University of Adelaide is the second successful Trailblazer to be announced, with further announcements expected in coming weeks.

 

Curtin University was selected as a Trailblazer from a two-stage competitive assessment process where universities were required to submit expressions of interest and then more detailed business cases.

 

The Morrison Government has invested $362 million in the Trailblazer Universities program – an initial $243 million announced in November last year and an additional $119 million through our Regional Accelerator Program announced on Budget night. This is part of the Government’s $2.2 billion University Research Commercialisation Action Plan, which will focus the considerable research power of our universities on Australia’s National Manufacturing Priorities.