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Stately aid

November 2015 - Following the closure of car manufacturing plants in Victoria and South Australia, federal and state governments implemented assistance programs designed to milden the economic and social impact on the states and to set their manufacturing businesses onto a more sustainable path (see also our story 'Eternal transition').

Recent investments include government assistance for Victorian businesses under the Geelong Region Innovation and Investment Fund (GRIIF) and the Next Generation Manufacturing Investment Program (NGMIP).

Announced in November, the new rounds of grants together worth $39 million are expected to leverage around $120 million in total investment.

The first round of the NGMIP also delivered for South Australia, with 15 companies in the State receiving grants together worth $28.8 million, potentially resulting in $73 million in total investment in high value manufacturing projects.

$29.5 million following Ford's decision to close local production in the Geelong region.

A further $5 million was then contributed by Alcoa in 2014, following its decision to close the Port Henry aluminium smelter.

In its third round the GRIIF delivered grants totalling $11.2 million, with three of the seven successful projects accounting for almost all of the available funding ($9.8 million):

• Air Radiators - $3.3 million for the establishment of a purpose build facility to manufacture large, industrial aluminium heat exchangers;
• Associated Kiln Driers Pty Ltd t/a AKD Softwoods - $3.5 million for the installation of the latest sawmilling technology and an upgrade of the company's dry mill; and
• M.C. Herd Proprietary Limited - $3.0 million for the construction and commissioning of a semi-automated stock cutting room for meat products.

Previous rounds of the scheme have provided $17 million, with major recipients including Australian Lamb Pty Ltd; Cotton On Clothing Pty Ltd and carbon fibre wheel producer Carbon Revolution Pty Ltd.

Victorian businesses receiving $27.4 million worth of grants in the first round of the NGMIP, which is jointly funded by the Australian, Victorian and South Australian Governments as part of the $155 million Growth Fund .

The provided assistance for Victoria's high value manufacturing industry is estimated to leverage $75 million in total investment, with successful project including:

• HeiQ Australia Pty Ltd - $1.26 million for establishing an industrial scale manufacturing facility for short polymer fibre (SPF) materials;
• Marand Precision Engineering Pty Ltd - $5.0 million to expand its capacity to manufacture and assemble vertical tails for the Joint Strike Fighter F35;
• Bombardier Transportation Australia Pty Ltd - $3.2 million to expand its rail vehicle manufacturing capacity and capability at its site in Dandenong;
• Reinforced Concrete Pipes Australia (Vic) Pty Ltd - $2.61 million for the first Australian deployment of innovative new generation dry cast technology; and
• Turrisi Enterprises Pty Ltd - $1.58 million for an advanced caravan chassis and suspension manufacturing facility at Campbellfield Victoria.

Successful applications from South Australian companies include:

• Ahrens Group Pty Ltd (SA) - $3.00 million for the establishment a flat bottom silo manufacturing operation in South Australia;
• Levett Engineering Pty Ltd - $1.6 million including for expanding high value manufacturing capacity to meet existing contracts for components of the F35 Joint Strike Fighter;
• SA Structural Pty Ltd - $1.26 million for the installation and commissioning of a copying machine to cut steel using the dual thermal processes of high definition plasma, where extreme precision & quality finish is required;
• Seeley International Pty Ltd $4.95 million for the establishment of the high volume Climate Wizard heat exchanger and cooler production facility.
• Mexican Express Pty Ltd - $1.65 million for commissioning the first aseptic horizontally formed, filled and sealed facility in Australia;
• Mayne Pharma International Pty Ltd - $4.0 million to increase the existing capacity of its spray coating facility with the purchase of a new fluid bed spray coater, which will be used to apply coatings to medicine; and
• BAE Systems Australia Limited - $2,48 million to establish a complex mill turn capability in hard metals and expand high-value manufacturing activities to encompass engine components for the Joint Strike Fighter.