Queensland’s Palaszczuk Government has just allocated $1.8 million for the next year in a bid to promote innovation and job growth within the state’s $7 billion-dollar Mining Equipment, Technology and Services (METS) sector.
Minister for State Development, Manufacturing, Infrastructure and Planning, Cameron Dick, announced that the Palaszczuk Government’s funding aims to deliver 11 state-based industry support activities throughout the year. The decision was made in partnership with METS Ignited, one of six Australian Government-led growth centres.
“The METS sector employs about 20,000 people in Queensland and these new activities are key to achieving our plan to create a further 3000 extra jobs over the next decade,” the Minister announced earlier this morning. This funding will include another year of the Igniting METS Accelerator program, a program designed to accelerate the commercialisation rate of mining technologies in Australia.
“Another Accelerator in 2018-19 will help start-ups and early-stage companies with great innovations to take their products and services to national and international markets,” shared the Minister. Following this, a series of ‘Mini Accelerators’ will also be run throughout the year, aiming to reach Queensland companies in regions which previously did not have full access to the accelerator program.
Additionally, “a Scale-Up and Take Off program is being developed to assist METS businesses who are expanding to meet the challenges that come with growth,” Mr Dick explained. According to the Minister, the $1.8 million funding was allocated in an effort to further support industry collaboration, assisting the growth of established METS clusters and developing new clusters of collaboration.
Other METS activities for 2018-19 include a series of workshops in major centres across Queensland to increase awareness of growth opportunities in the METS sector, along with a program designed to improve digital capabilities. Other METS activities for the year include funding for the Coalition for Energy Efficient Comminution (CEEC) to identify and promote opportunities for Queensland METS companies to develop and supply energy efficient and commercially valuable solutions to the energy and resources industry, along with continued support for the Test Facilities Research Project.
The Minister finalised by stating that several of the activities in the upcoming work program were proposed as ‘key actions’ from the Palaszczuk Government’s $7 million METS program, including the Queensland METS 10-Year Roadmap and Action Plan (released in July last year).
“The Roadmap and Action Plan is part of the Government’s $650 million Advance Queensland initiative to create knowledge-based jobs for Queenslanders,” he said.