QUICK LINKS to jump to a priority area for a tech powered, human driven future:
Technology Enabled — Resilient — Sustainable — Decarbonised — Diversified economy — Human centred — Internationally engaged
Liberal
Fast and efficient broadband
— 75% of homes will have access to high-speeds by 2023
— Business Fiber Initiative – 850,000 business eligible to access 1Gbps internet speeds.
— Nationwide including 120 regional business fiber zones
Fast And Efficient Broadband | Liberal Party of Australia
Advanced Defence Aerospace Manufacturing Network project
— Joint project with Boeing to develop new technology and parts for defence aircraft
— $103 million: (Including? Plus?) $34 million under the Collaboration Stream of the Modern Manufacturing Initiative
— 1,500 new jobs nationally by 2024
Local jobs boost with new defence aircraft program — Peter Dutton MP
Showcasing Australian innovation and agritech
— $2 million for showcasing agritech as part of $6 million over three years to support agricultural events/conferences
$6 million to showcase Australian agriculture – The Nationals
Digital and Skills Tax Boost
— Tax deductions for small businesses (under $50m turnover) to invest in increasing digital capability and train and upskill existing staff
— Technology investment boost ends 30 June 2023
— Skills and training boost ends 30 June 2024
— $1.6 Billion, nationwide
Digital and skills tax boost for small businesses | Prime Minister of Australia (pm.gov.au)
Research and AgTech Innovation Hub
— AgTech Hub focusing on the beef industry, in partnership with CQUniversity and AgForce Queensland Farmers
— $6 million
— Central Queensland
— nationals.org.au/new-research-and-agtech-innovation-hub/
Tech skills passport
— Trial of a digital record of tech-based university and VET qualifications to help workers match their skills with tech sector industry needs
— $5 million
— Govt pledges $5m for digital skills passport (innovationaus.com)
Establishment of Tech Workforce Roundtable
— New advisory group of government, industry and education experts to grow the tech workforce and meet digital skills demand
— Partnering with industry to grow Australia’s tech workforce | Liberal Party of Australia
Labor
Boosting Fibre and Fast-Track NBN repair
— Full-fibre NBN expanded to 1.5 million premises
— 10 million premises have access to high-speeds by 2025
— Nation wide – 660,000 business and homes in regions with access to fibre
Fixing the NBN | Policies | Australian Labor Party (alp.org.au)
Defence Research Agency
— ‘Advanced Strategic Research Agency’ (based on US DARPA) to fund research on breakthrough technologies for national security
— $1.2 billion over ten years
Labor pledges $1.2 billion defence innovation agency (innovationaus.com)
Telehealth
— Reinstate a 50 per cent regional loading for telehealth psychiatry through Medicare, providing access to bulk billed telehealth psychiatry consultations across regional and rural Australia.
— $31 million over the forward estimates.
Labor Will Restore Regional Mental Telehealth Services
1.2 million tech jobs by 2030
— Support the creation of new firms and jobs through Startup Year, by offering 2,000 Commonwealth supported places at accredited university accelerators. This investment will support aspiring entrepreneurs to commercialise their ideas and scale up.
— Support the creation of new firms and strengthen existing ones by leveraging Commonwealth spending under Labor’s Buy Australian Plan.
— Strengthen our sovereign capability through smarter government procurement and the establishment of the National Reconstruction Fund to support growing businesses.
Labor Targets 1.2 Million Tech Jobs by 2030
Digital and Skills Tax Boost – matching Coalition’s promise
Chalmers backs $1bn digital SME tax sweetener (innovationaus.com)
Critical Technologies Fund
— Financing vehicle to provide loans, equity and guarantees for technology companies in areas such as AI, robotics and quantum computing
— $1 billion
Labor commits $1b investment fund for critical technologies (innovationaus.com)
Quantum research talent funding
— Funding for quantum technology PhDs and research collaborations based
— $4m
— National
Labor pledges $4m to help retain quantum research talent (innovationaus.com)
Labor
Centre for Disease Control
— Ensure ongoing pandemic preparedness; lead the federal response to future infectious disease outbreaks; and work to prevent non-communicable (chronic) as well as communicable (infectious) diseases.
— Cost (not announced)
Australian Centre for Disease Control
Schools Upgrade Fund
— Grants for schools to improve ventilation and air quality by buying air purifiers, upgrading heating, ventilation, and air-conditioning, building outdoor learning spaces and replacing windows and doors to let fresh air in.
— $240 million
Labor’s Plan to Help our Schoolkids Bounce Back
Great Barrier Relief
— Coastal Marine Ecosystems Research Centre at CQ University, to allow CQU to permanently secure the Centre for Marine Ecosystems Research site on Gladstone’s marina, scale up its research operations, and scale up its application of that research in partnership with indigenous sea rangers – $15 million
— Continued funding for the Reef 2050 program over the forward estimates for $63 million
— Reallocate unspent funds from the Great Barrier Reef Foundation to Reef conversation
— $85 million for shovel ready projects for land restoration and coral reef resilience projects
ALBANESE, PALASZCZUK, BUTLER, FAITH – MEDIA RELEASE – A BETTER FUTURE FOR THE GREAT BARRIER REEF & AUSTRALIA’S UNIQUE ENVIRONMENT - FRIDAY 13 MAY 2022 (mailchi.mp)
Disaster Readiness
— Investing up to $200 million per year on disaster prevention and resilience. This includes flood levees, sea walls, cyclone shelters, evacuation centres, fire breaks and telecommunications improvements
— $200 million
Disaster Readiness
Battery Manufacturing
— Creation of a battery manufacturing precinct and industry growth centre
— Queensland
— $100m funding injection
Powering the Nation with Australian-Made Batteries (anthonyalbanese.com.au)
Labor
Water for Australia Plan
— Establish a national water commission to make sure Australia has secure and sustainable access to water, work to implement priority water infrastructure projects included in Infrastructure Australia’s priority list
— Cost $43 million in establishing the commission
Water for Australia plan
Safeguard the Murray Darling Basin
— Delivering on water commitments, including the 450 gigalitres for South Australia.
— Increasing compliance and improving metering and monitoring.
— Restoring transparency, integrity and confidence in water markets and water management.
— Increasing First Nations ownership and involvement in decision-making.
— Updating the science by investing $8.5 million to commission the CSIRO to re-run the Sustainable Yield study and $3.5 million to study how climate change will affect the Ramsar site across the basin including sea level rises and lower lakes
Plan to Safeguard the Murray Darling Basin
Urban Water Catchments
— Creating wetlands to slow water flow and filter stormwater before it reaches our rivers
— Citizen science and education projects for pre-schoolers and school age children
— Removing cement walls and returning them to natural riverbanks
— Revegetation and tree planting
— $200 million program
Urban Rivers and Catchments Program
Establishment of an independent environmental protection agency
— Independent environmental protection agency to enforce conservation laws and collect data on wildlife
— National
Labor to set up independent environmental protection agency
Liberal
Hydrogen hubs
Tasmanian Clean Hydrogen Industrial Hub
— Eighth Clean Hydrogen Industrial Hub in Bell Bay, Tasmania
— $70 million
— 1,000 jobs created
Powering Tasmania’s clean hydrogen future | Tasmanian Liberals
Northern Territory energy projects
— $300 m package for NT energy projects including a clean hydrogen industrial hub, grants to energy companies for a clean hydrogen hub, carbon capture and storage hub, reduction of carbon emissions for Liquefied Natural Gas (LNG) production, grant for CSIRO to develop a business case for a low emissions CO2 utilisation industrial hub, and $96m unspecified for future clean energy projects in the NT
$300 million package to deliver Territory jobs boom | Liberal Party of Australia
NSW hydrogen hubs
— Up to $41 million for Port of Newcastle’s Hydrogen Hub
— Up to $41 million for Origin Energy Future Fuels Hunter Valley H2 Hub Implementation Project
— Above funding is in addition to $100 million in the 2022-23 Budget for preparatory work
— 2,300 jobs created when operational
— Hunter, NSW
Harnessing the Hunter’s hydrogen future (nswliberal.org.au)
Queensland hydrogen hubs
— Two new hydrogen hubs and six carbon capture utilisation and storage projects
— Hydrogen hubs in Townsville, North Queensland and Gladstone, Central Queensland
— $275 million
— 5,700 jobs created when projects are operational from 2025
$275 million to supercharge Queensland energy sector and jobs | Liberal Party of Australia
South Australian hydrogen hub
Five energy and low-emissions projects including hydrogen hub activation, carbon capture and concentrated solar thermal power demonstration project
$218 million
Boosting regional South Australian industry – Rowan Ramsey MP
Labor
Powering Australia
— 604,000 jobs in renewable energy with 5 out of 6 in regions which will reduce emissions by 43% by 2030
— Make electric vehicles cheaper through an electric car discount and a National Electric Vehicle Strategy
— $3 billion to invest in green metals; clean energy component manufacturing; hydrogen electrolysers and fuel switching; agricultural methane reduction and waste reduction.
— 85 solar banks around Australia and 400 community batteries
— Restoring the Climate Change Authority
Powering Australia
Labor
National Reconstruction Fund
— Financing vehicle to provide loans, guarantees and equity for manufacturing / sovereign industry projects
— $15 billion
National Reconstruction Fund | Policies | Australian Labor Party (alp.org.au)
Advanced Manufacturing Fund
— Provides businesses access to capital to diversify operations, develop industrial processes, and invest in research and development
— $1 billion (as part of $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund)
Labor’s $1 Billion Investment in Advanced Manufacturing (anthonyalbanese.com.au)
Medical Manufacturing Fund
— Industry fund for medical technology and vaccine manufacturing
— $1.5 billion as part of the $15 billion National Reconstruction fund
Be prepared: Labor’s $1.5b fund for medical manufacturing (innovationaus.com)
Labor
Future Made in Australia Skills Plan
— 465,000 Fee Free TAFE places including 45,000 new TAFE places
— TAFE Technology Fund to improve IT facilities, workshops, laboratories and tele-health simulators across the country – $50 million
— $100 million New Energy Apprentices to train in new energy jobs for 10,000 apprentices
— 20,000 new university places with priotisation for under-represented groups
— Overall, $1.2 billion
Fee Free TAFE and more Uni Places
Student Wellbeing Boost
— $20,00 funding boost to the average school for
— Extra mental health professionals in schools
— Camps, excursions and sporting activities
— Proven wellbeing and mental health initiatives
— $10.5 million in voluntary mental health check tool to identify kids that are struggling
Labor’s Plan to Help our Schoolkids Bounce Back
Labor
Climate Security
— We will lead a bid to host a future Climate Change Conference of the Parties in Australia with our Pacific partners would and work with Indonesia to deliver a $200m climate and infrastructure partnership. We will also make climate change cooperation a hallmark of the US alliance.
National Security
Pacific Climate Infrastructure
— Pacific Climate Infrastructure Financing Partnership to support climate-related infrastructure and energy projects in Pacific countries and Timor-Leste
— Cost – The Pacific Climate Infrastructure Financing Partnership will be a new stream within the existing $3.5 billion Australian Infrastructure Financing Facility for the Pacific. To commence in 22-23.
Pacific Climate Infrastructure Financing Partnership