❓ The Minister for Manufacturing updates the house on the government's plans to support local manufacturing in the renewable energy sector, highlighting investments in RCR Advanced Technologies and Australian Winders to create jobs and build sovereign capability.
AnsweredQoN 411Legislative Assembly
QuestionView source ↗
State economy—Diversification
411. Mr Dave Kelly to
the Minister for Manufacturing:
I refer to the Cook
Labor government's plan to diversify the WA economy to ensure that it remains
the strongest in the nation.
Can the minister
update the house on the government's plans to make WA a renewable energy
powerhouse and to support local manufacturing opportunities in renewable energy
in the regions?
411. Mr Dave Kelly to
the Minister for Manufacturing:
I refer to the Cook
Labor government's plan to diversify the WA economy to ensure that it remains
the strongest in the nation.
Can the minister
update the house on the government's plans to make WA a renewable energy
powerhouse and to support local manufacturing opportunities in renewable energy
in the regions?
AnswerView source ↗
I thank the member
for Bassendean for his question and reiterate the Labor government's backing of
regional jobs and manufacturing by supporting local companies to enter the
clean energy supply chain, where they may not previously have had that
opportunity. I recently announced down in Bunbury that RCR Advanced
Technologies, already a great and well-established company supporting the
resources sector, will receive $2 million in funding from the $8 million wind
energy manufacturing co-investment program to allow it to upgrade equipment and
upskill staff to produce key components of wind infrastructure. Key components
of wind towers will now be manufactured in Bunbury. This is part of a $5.3 million
project, with the company putting in the other $3 million investment, to manufacture those turbines. Those
turbines were all previously imported from overseas, but they will now be manufactured
locally. This will create 48 new secure jobs in the region and help upskill a
range of existing workers around advanced welding and robotic welding on top of
their existing welding and fabrication skills. Importantly, it will also provide
sovereign capability for a number of those components and stronger supply chain
resilience as we enter a global race for much of this infrastructure, and, of
course, jobs in Western Australia, both for this company in particular but also
in the South West. The South West is an outstanding and beautiful tourism
region but it also has a very proud industrial history, and it wants to maintain
its position as an industrial and manufacturing powerhouse in Western Australia.
It is the biggest manufacturing base outside the metropolitan area in WA.
Just to give members
a sense of the scale of the opportunity here for Western Australian companies,
the componentry of more than 80 wind farms that are already planned in Western
Australia involves about 24,000 construction and manufacturing jobs and around
$9 billion for the Western Australian community. The opportunities are immense,
and we have to grasp those opportunities for local companies. By supporting
companies like RCR in Bunbury to take those first steps, we are making sure that
we are not just importing all this infrastructure but also building and making
it here in Western Australia. This follows the awarding of funding to Australian
Winders, very close to the member for Bassendean's electorate in Bayswater,
which is also a very well established advanced manufacturing facility. That
will allow that company to also manufacture key components of wind turbines. It
is one of the only global providers now, so it is exporting those components globally.
That really cements us as part of that supply chain for this componentry around
the world. It will also support another 25 jobs and a significant expansion of
export potential. This is just another example of how we are supporting Made in
WA and building more things here. We are making sure that Western Australians
are getting good jobs out of the renewable energy economy.
for Bassendean for his question and reiterate the Labor government's backing of
regional jobs and manufacturing by supporting local companies to enter the
clean energy supply chain, where they may not previously have had that
opportunity. I recently announced down in Bunbury that RCR Advanced
Technologies, already a great and well-established company supporting the
resources sector, will receive $2 million in funding from the $8 million wind
energy manufacturing co-investment program to allow it to upgrade equipment and
upskill staff to produce key components of wind infrastructure. Key components
of wind towers will now be manufactured in Bunbury. This is part of a $5.3 million
project, with the company putting in the other $3 million investment, to manufacture those turbines. Those
turbines were all previously imported from overseas, but they will now be manufactured
locally. This will create 48 new secure jobs in the region and help upskill a
range of existing workers around advanced welding and robotic welding on top of
their existing welding and fabrication skills. Importantly, it will also provide
sovereign capability for a number of those components and stronger supply chain
resilience as we enter a global race for much of this infrastructure, and, of
course, jobs in Western Australia, both for this company in particular but also
in the South West. The South West is an outstanding and beautiful tourism
region but it also has a very proud industrial history, and it wants to maintain
its position as an industrial and manufacturing powerhouse in Western Australia.
It is the biggest manufacturing base outside the metropolitan area in WA.
Just to give members
a sense of the scale of the opportunity here for Western Australian companies,
the componentry of more than 80 wind farms that are already planned in Western
Australia involves about 24,000 construction and manufacturing jobs and around
$9 billion for the Western Australian community. The opportunities are immense,
and we have to grasp those opportunities for local companies. By supporting
companies like RCR in Bunbury to take those first steps, we are making sure that
we are not just importing all this infrastructure but also building and making
it here in Western Australia. This follows the awarding of funding to Australian
Winders, very close to the member for Bassendean's electorate in Bayswater,
which is also a very well established advanced manufacturing facility. That
will allow that company to also manufacture key components of wind turbines. It
is one of the only global providers now, so it is exporting those components globally.
That really cements us as part of that supply chain for this componentry around
the world. It will also support another 25 jobs and a significant expansion of
export potential. This is just another example of how we are supporting Made in
WA and building more things here. We are making sure that Western Australians
are getting good jobs out of the renewable energy economy.
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