This budget initiative will invest in a Future Made in Australia plan to bring new jobs and opportunities to communities in every part of our country.

Making our future here in Australia is about maximising our nation’s potential and ensuring everyone shares in the benefits. This aims to maximise the economic and industrial benefits of the international move to net zero and secure Australia’s place in a changing global economic and strategic landscape.

The 2024-25 Budget will invest $22.7 billion over a decade to help Australia succeed and remain an indispensable part of the global economy as the world undergoes the biggest transformation since the Industrial Revolution.

This plan will help Australia build a stronger, more diversified and more resilient economy powered by clean energy, create more secure, well-paid jobs and encourage and facilitate the private sector investment required to take advantage of this opportunity.

It will invest in innovation and technology that will help ensure we remain globally competitive and recognise the vital role of regional Australia in our national prosperity.

The Future Made in Australia plan is about attracting and enabling investment, making Australia a renewable energy superpower, value-adding to our resources and strengthening economic security, backing Australian ideas and investing in the people, communities and services that will drive our national success.

Attracting and enabling investment:

• Creating a new ‘front door’ for investors with major, transformational investment proposals to make it simpler to invest in Australia and attract more global and domestic capital, complementing the functions of the Net Zero Economy Authority;
• $168.1 million to better prioritise approval decisions for renewable energy projects of national significance and support faster decisions on the environment, cultural heritage and planning approvals, including
• $20.7 million to improve engagement with communities involved in the energy transition and $15.7 million to deliver a stronger, more streamlined, and more transparent approach to foreign investment;
• $17.3 million to implement a comprehensive agenda to mobilise private investment in sustainable activities; and
• $1.3 million to develop and release best practice guidance for disclosing net zero transition plans.

Making Australia a renewable energy superpower:

• $3.2 billion over the next decade through the Australian Renewable Energy Agency to support the commercialisation of technologies that are critical to net zero, including through a new $1.7 billion Future Made in Australia Innovation Fund for the deployment of innovative technologies and facilities linked to priority sectors, including green metals, batteries and low carbon liquid fuels.
• Implementing a Hydrogen Production Tax Incentive to provide a $2 incentive per kilogram of renewable hydrogen produced between 2027-28 to 2039-40, for up to ten years per project, at an estimated cost to the Budget of $6.7 billion over the medium
• $1.3 billion in the Hydrogen Headstart program over the next decade to provide additional support to early-movers investing in the industry’s
• We need $17.1 million to implement our National Hydrogen Strategy, which will help Australia become a global hydrogen leader by 2030.
• Fast-tracking the initial phase of the Guarantee of Origin Scheme to measure and certify emissions intensity across the supply chain of key products, providing an additional $32.3 million to support the expansion of the program to green metals and low-carbon liquid fuels, and consulting on additional incentives to support production in these industries.
• $15.4 million in foundational activities to support the development of green metals
• $27.7 million to better integrate consumer energy resources (like rooftop solar and household batteries) into the grid.
• $63.8 million to reduce emissions in the agriculture and land sector.
• $48 million to deliver other reforms to the Australian Carbon Credit Unit Scheme; and
• Unlocking $65 billion of renewable energy capacity through the Capacity Investment Scheme’s continued rollout.

Value-adding to our resources and strengthening economic security:

• Implementing a Critical Minerals Production Tax Incentive to provide a production incentive valued at ten per cent of relevant processing and refining costs for Australia’s 31 critical minerals, for critical minerals processed and refined between 2027-28 to 2039-40, for up to ten years per project, at an estimated cost to the Budget of $7 billion over the medium term.
• $10.2 million to work with states and territories to develop pre-feasibility studies of common-use infrastructure, which promotes a competitive and productive critical mineral sector.
• $1.5 billion to strengthen battery and solar panel supply chains via the Solar Sunshot Program and Battery Breakthrough Initiative.
• $165.7 million to support businesses scaling up and delivering the Sovereign Defence Industrial Priorities.
• $14.3 million to work with trade partners to strengthen our global competitiveness and support benchmarks for trade in high- quality critical minerals.

Innovation, digital and science capabilities:

• $466.4 million to build quantum computing capabilities in partnership with the Queensland Government and PsiQuantum;
• $566.1 million in open science by supporting Geoscience Australia to map Australia’s endowments of critical minerals and national groundwater systems and
• Undertaking a strategic examination of Australia’s research and development system to grow R&D and build a more resilient and dynamic economy.

Investing in people and places:

• $91 million to accelerate the development of the clean energy workforce by upgrading training facilities, supporting teachers and trainers, and expanding access to the New Energy Apprenticeship Program.
• $55.6 million in the Building Women’s Careers program to expand support for women training in clean energy and other key industries.
• $38.2 million to support diversity in science, technology, engineering, and maths.
• $64.8 million to attract and retain the skilled industrial workforce needed to support defence industrial
• $209.3 million into the Net Zero Economy Authority, which will catalyse private and public investment, major project development, employment transition, skills, and community development.
• $178.6 million in additional employment and skills support for regions in transition, including the Energy Industry Jobs Plan and place-based Regional Workforce Transition Plans.

These policies complement the Government’s broader growth agenda, including competition reforms, investments in infrastructure, housing, human capital and the defence industry, and support for small businesses.

A new National Interest Framework, established under a Future Made in Australia Act, will guide the Future Made in Australia agenda and better align economic incentives with national interests.

Under the Framework, priority industries will be identified under two streams. The ‘net zero transformation’ stream will identify sectors that can significantly contribute to achieving net zero, where Australia has grounds to build enduring sources of comparative advantage. The ‘economic security and resilience’ stream will identify sectors that are critical to our resilience, vulnerable to supply disruptions and require support to unlock sufficient private investment.

This Framework will guide Government decision-making on significant public investments, particularly those used to incentivise private investment at scale. Further details are outlined in the National Interest Framework supporting paper available on the Treasury website.

The Government will also apply the Community Benefit Principles to significant investments in priority industries. These investments will focus on boosting investment in local communities, supply chains, and skills and promoting diverse workforces and secure jobs.

For more information, reach out to the team @HKSRussell

t: + 61 7 3177 4120
e: advisors@hksrussell.com

Posted on May 21, 2024 by Charisse Russell - Articles