What was I doing on that fateful day Nov 11 1975? Presenting analysis of Treasurer Bill Hayden’s budget 📊 to the AMWU national organisers’ school (yes that’s Laurie Carmichael taking notes). By the afternoon it was Malcolm Fraser’s budget & school was out 😠

As part of the Albanese Govt’s Future Made in Australia agenda, I want to see greater national coordination of our #research & #innovation talents to address national challenges, inc global shift to low carbon industrial production @timayres.bsky.social www.minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/ti...

‘While this survey shows #Australia went backwards on most measures, it is particularly concerning to see our big falls in #education & training, and our persistently weak scores on #business agility’ www.ceda.com.au/research-and...

“Adopting an industrial ecosystem perspective that goes beyond sectoral boundaries to consider both upstream and downstream industries can contribute to designing more effective industrial policies” @oecd-ocde.bsky.social www.oecd.org/en/publicati... @timayres.bsky.social

🏭 SAVE TOMAGO! @profroygreen.bsky.social special finance vehicle solution is key to securing affordable renewable energy for the aluminium plant. It'll save 6,000 jobs, protect a $6B sovereign industry, and drive clean energy investment! Let's back a future for Hunter manufacturing. #Tomago #auspol

“This is an important part of becoming a more complex & resilient economy. The idea we can do without #manufacturing and move to a services economy given that services don't contribute much to our export mix is a fantasy” @abcnewsbot.bsky.social youtu.be/FMSWsKbXvUU?... @timayres.bsky.social

Canadian parallels - “What would it take to become a leader in green energy, sustainable agriculture, green transportation, biotechnology, a resilient & digitalized high-value-added processing economy?” socialistproject.ca/2025/10/beyo... #NetZero #manufacturing #tech

Consultations for the review of the Energy Industry Jobs Plan (EIJP) have come to an end and the written submissions have now been published on our consultation hub www.netzero.gov.au/review-energ... #EnergyTransition

“Without the knowledge & without the critical thinking skills instilled by print, many of the citizens of modern democracies find themselves as helpless & as credulous as medieval peasants — moved by irrational appeals & prone to mob thinking” open.substack.com/pub/jmarriot...

“The #NetZero plan is no longer just about high level aspirations but detailed execution of the #energy transition & diversification, sector by sector, of Australia’s narrow trade & industrial structure” My take www.innovationaus.com/tinkering-wi... @timayres.bsky.social @albomp.bsky.social

“It’s last chance saloon time for Australia’s #research & #innovation system. We need to get it right this time” No more kicking this can down the road ⛔️ www.timeshighereducation.com/depth/austra... @timayres.bsky.social @jasonclaremp.bsky.social

“More than any other place on earth, we have most to gain from a low-carbon global economy thanks to our vast solar & wind resources, mineral wealth, proximity to growing markets & strategic partnerships” @timayres.bsky.social www.minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/ti... @albomp.bsky.social

“Much policy discussion is grounded in out-of-date notions that #manufacturing depends on cheap workers & economies of scale. The business model has changed. Today’s champions draw from #science & #research for global value chains” www.aumanufacturing.com.au/manufacturin... @timayres.bsky.social

“#Manufacturing rapidly modernises our #technology capability as a nation, drives business investment in #research & #innovation and it’s where some of the greatest margins can be captured in global supply chains” says Prof Cori Stewart #ARMHub www.linkedin.com/pulse/genera...

“Enterprise absorptive capacity matters, but the danger is that if we focus only on diagnosing its absence, we miss the real lever for change: redesigning the #research & #innovation system” www.innovationaus.com/beyond-absor...

“Sweden is no outlier. Norway, Denmark and Finland all have much higher taxes and much bigger public sectors than ours, and much stronger #productivity growth” notes @richarddenniss.bsky.social www.thesaturdaypaper.com.au/news/politic...

“Without investment in skills, diffusion will stall. Without attention to sovereignty, dependency will deepen. Without strategic alignment, the promise of #AI as a #productivity booster could turn into another story of missed opportunity” www.innovationaus.com/ai-wont-driv... @acri-uts.bsky.social

“Australia’s biggest fossil fuel subsidy is hiding in plain sight. The diesel Fuel Tax Credit scheme — a taxpayer-funded rebate mostly benefitting big miners — is costing Australians tens of billions, fuelling emissions & damaging #productivity growth” johnmenadue.com/post/2025/08...

While a #productivity roundtable without the #research & #innovation system at its heart is ‘Hamlet without the Prince’, separate ministerial roundtables may contribute to the outcomes of the govt’s Strategic Examination of R&D www.timeshighereducation.com/news/canberr...

For roundtable reflection - “an almost exact correlation between the decline of manufacturing, the decline of business expenditure on R&D and the decline of productivity growth, now at its lowest level in almost 60 years” www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08... @albomp.bsky.social

“The data show no correlation between #taxation & #productivity growth, nor with the rate of #innovation. Instead, it may be that tax revenue spent on #education, #skills & #research will make more difference to productivity growth” Michael Keating johnmenadue.com/post/2025/08... @albomp.bsky.social

Unsurprising, but nevertheless tragic. Makes it very hard for integrators and multidisciplinarians to exist in academia. #academicsky

“Australia can no longer rely on comparative advantage in our raw materials but should instead create competitive advantage in global & domestic value chains” My take on govt coinvestment in new #smelter technologies www.abc.net.au/news/2025-08... @albomp.bsky.social

Great to welcome chair Martijn Wilder, CEO David Gall & National Reconstruction Fund (NRFC) board to the #ARMHub & #UAP for tour & discussion about how we grow globally competitive knowledge-driven #manufacturing SMEs ⚙️📡🔬 @albomp.bsky.social

“The government can’t legislate for better management but what it can do is introduce programs for management & enterprise improvement to build the innovative capability of companies” My take on #management practice & #productivity debate www.afr.com/work-and-car... @sallymcmanus.bsky.social

“The only institutions that are holding up R&D are #universities, and that's only because of increased funding from overseas students — which we've just cut” My take on Academy of Science proposal for R&D levy www.abc.net.au/news/2025-07... @uniaus.bsky.social @science.org.au

“The Albanese government has an historic opportunity to remake our trade & industrial structure for a world of rapid technological change & shifting geopolitical alliances. It should not be missed” My take on economic reform agenda www.innovationaus.com/economic-ref... @albomp.bsky.social

Space policy is industrial policy, innovation policy, climate policy, agricultural policy & defence policy at the 18th Australian Space Forum australianspaceforum.com.au

“I look forward to assessing this important legislation aimed at assisting workers in the areas of Australia most impacted by the transition and identifying opportunities in the industries and technologies of the future” www.netzero.gov.au/media-releas... @albomp.bsky.social

“In a democracy, parties have to acknowledge this basic truth: workers & communities must see the benefits of the economic agenda. As chancellor Rachel Reeves has said, where things are made, and who makes them, matters” on.ft.com/4enuAhU @albomp.bsky.social

“In an AI-systems world, #productivity is not merely about human capital or business incentives. It's about system command: Who controls the architecture? Who defines the standards? Who owns & governs the flows of data, decisions & influence” open.substack.com/pub/realpoli...

Australia & Canada are similar in so many great ways, but also some concerning ones - my take on what #TheEconomist calls our ‘underfed #innovation system’ www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

UK projected spending growth for 2025/26 - 2028/29 is highest for #science, #innovation & #research at 7.4% over the 3 yr period. This is a strategic bet on the future that has to pay off on.ft.com/4jSMWIG

“Future Made In Australia will focus on critical minerals, iron & steel production & boosting manufacturing. Esp in regions where the intersection of our future energy advantage & our industrial capability means Australia can deliver” says Minister Tim Ayres www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

“Australia has to lean in, to secure a stake in global digital and AI development – to shape the digital future rather than have a future shaped for us as foundational to future #productivity growth” www.minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/ti... @timayres.bsky.social @albomp.bsky.social

“Australia has the opportunity to create a new frontier of competitive advantage in digital infrastructure by aligning the rapid growth of #datacentres with the expansion of renewable energy & grid integration” www.innovationaus.com/data-centres...

Second term Australian Labor govt is about “coordination, delivery & impact”, joining up #research & #innovation system with Future Made in Australia plan, as part of whole of govt #productivity agenda, says Minister Tim Ayres www.minister.industry.gov.au/ministers/ti...

“The US will be targeted with researchers sought who are working in areas such as renewable energy, food security, digital technologies, artificial intelligence, semiconductors, medtech and healthcare” www.irishtimes.com/politics/202...

The challenge of boosting #productivity growth is “made more acute by Australia’s trade and industrial structure, which is heavily weighted to resources exports rather than the knowledge-based industries of the future” My take johnmenadue.com/post/2025/05... @oecdinnovation.bsky.social

Sarah Churchwell will be speaking at #UTS Vice-Chancellor’s Democracy Forum on Wednesday May 14 on ‘What stories does America tell itself - and who do they serve?’ Here’s a preview www.abc.net.au/listen/progr...

Awesome to visit the Square Kilometre Array (SKA) in Murchison WA, on way to being the world’s most advanced radio telescope, with participation of 16 countries. What can it see? The beginning of time 📡⏳💫 @csiro.bsky.social

“Albanese govt’s 2nd & possibly 3rd term provides another opportunity to undertake major structural changes required to secure Australia’s future as an inclusive & dynamic knowledge-based economy. Surely this one will not be missed” theconversation.com/labor-says-i... @albomp.bsky.social

“Although not figuring largely in the election campaign, it’s increasingly recognised that a major reboot to #science, #technology & #innovation will be critical to Australia’s sovereign capability in a troubling geopolitical environment” www.innovationaus.com/industry-say... #FMiA

Looking forward to contributing to ‘The Future of Just Transition and Industrial Policy in Australia’ at 12.00 Thursday May 1 RMIT Building 13, Level 4 405 Russell St Melbourne VIC 3000 or online - contact [email protected]

What don’t we want to talk about in this election campaign @nickbryantoz.bsky.social #ArunaSathanapally #jenniferHewett www.abc.net.au/listen/progr... @grattaninstitute.bsky.social

$270 million partnership between universities, industry & government – the Additive Manufacturing Cooperative Research Centre (AMCRC) – will position Australia as a leader in additive #manufacturing technologies 🛠️ www.uts.edu.au/news/2025/04... FMiA

“Tariffs will fail without a home game that includes #IndustrialPolicy to bolster truly strategic industries. Only countries that have both, and connect them clearly, can successfully boost domestic #manufacturing” As always @ranaforoohar.bsky.social nails it ✅ www.ft.com/content/ab9f...

Brilliant interview by Michael Lester with UTS & Acton Institute Prof John Howard on the Australian govt’s Strategic Examination of R&D - can this review break free from its narrow terms of reference & address broader #Innovation issues? www.mixcloud.com/michael-lest...

Fewer homes would be built without fee-free #TAFE 🛠️ “If you don’t have the skills, you won’t get the resulting supply of houses, and will continue to have housing shortages & high prices & high rent” www.theguardian.com/australia-ne...

“The implications for the energy grid of large-scale data centre deployment are profound, & the billions in data centre investment could be leveraged to help underwrite the financing of renewables infrastructure” www.innovationaus.com/ai-and-austr... #FMiA