Industry News

The Victorian government has announced a $1.2 billion re-development of the Port of Melbourne and will see the construction of a new container terminal at Webb Dock and further infrastructure upgrades as Swanson Dock to increase capacity.

The project is expected to generate in excess of 2,600 jobs and significantly enhance the economic prospects in the state, according to Premier Ted Baillieu.

"This major infrastructure project is an exciting opportunity to cement Victoria's reputation as the freight and logistics capital of Australia," Mr Baillieu said.

"The project will provide 700 direct jobs and 1,900 indirect jobs across Victoria, in addition to ensuring we are well placed to cater for the forecast demand in container freight.

"In 2010/11 the port handled a record 2.5 million twenty-foot equivalent containers (TEU) and has continued to set new trade records in recent months.

"With container movements in and out of Melbourne increasing in excess of six per cent every year and tipped to reach 8 million TEU by 2035, this announcement is an important part of the Coalition Government's plan to provide the infrastructure required to meet growing demand.”

Minister for Ports Denis Napthine said all Victorians would benefit from an improved and efficient port.

"With the port handling $82 billion worth of international import and export trade per annum, the Coalition Government recognises managing the port effectively is essential to maintaining the lifestyle, livelihood and trade benefits for Victorian people and Victorian businesses," Dr Napthine said.

The Municipal Association of Victoria (MAV) has requested public input over its recently released a draft copy of the proposed Strategic Plan for 2012-13.

The draft was developed with ‘extensive’ member input from the series of recent planning sessions held across Victoria and has been released to MAV representatives and CEOs.

The MAV is seeking feedback on the draft before its presented to State Council on 17 May. Comments can be submitted to This email address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it.

The working group tasked with considering governance issues associated with a possible move to a single water and sewerage corporation in Tasmania has met for the first time.

Chaired by the Mayor of Brighton, Councillor Tony Foster, the working group has considered a range of matters relating to how councils would integrated separately owned assets into a single entity.

“The meeting was very productive, with two representatives of owner councils from each region, along with the Chair of the current water and sewerage corporations and the CEO of the Local Government Association in attendance,” Mayor Foster said.

“Councils have had concerns from the beginning about the amount of input they have into this sector as the owners of the entities. The governance proposals under consideration are about ensuring that as owners, Local Government has a more direct relationship with the board(s) and corporation(s),” he said.  

“Selection processes, board structure and numbers, communication between the Board and owners, accountability and reporting along with the basis for dividend distribution are key matters for the working group to address.”

The Federal Labor Government will provide grants of up to $110,000 to airlines flying to small and remote tourism destinations like Kangaroo Island to help them get ready for new, increased aviation security measures.

From July 1 this year, the Government will require a number of regional airports to have security screening of passengers and baggage for the first time.

Many small and remote airports cannot afford the purchase and upkeep of screening equipment, especially considering the bulk of traffic is infrequent flights run by regional airlines for tourism or fly-in-fly-out mining operations.

Eligible tourism operators and regional airlines will be able to purchase small portable passenger screening kits that can be carried on board and used at remote locations where screening would not otherwise be available.

It means tourists, miners and others can keep flying to remote places like Kangaroo Island, Lake Eyre, Coober Pedy, Birdsville, King Island, Bourke, and Broken Hill.

The introduction of screening technology is being funded by the Federal Government’s $200 million Strengthening Aviation Security Initiative.

The Federal Government has teamed up with the Australian Local Government Association (ALGA) to explain how landfill can be used to reduce pollution and earn carbon credits.

Parliamentary Secretary for Climate Change and Energy Efficiency, Mark Dreyfus, yesterday addressed the ALGA forum on the carbon price and landfills, urging councils to do their own sums and not take at face value potentially misleading claims about high carbon price impacts.

Mr Dreyfus said some councils appeared to be significantly overestimating the impact of the carbon price on landfill, when the vast majority of landfill sites would not be subject to a carbon price at all.

He said only larger landfill facilities, with emissions over 25 000 tonnes a year, were liable to pay the carbon price, and only on waste disposed after 1 July 2012.

Emissions can be cut by up to 75 per cent using gas capture technology, which will help some landfills drop back below the 25 000 tonne threshold.

Landfill gas can be used to create electricity to power council or other nearby buildings.

"There is opportunity to make money under the carbon price scheme," Mr Dreyfus said.

"A carbon credit can be earned for every tonne of pollution cut or avoided from landfill, and these can be sold on carbon markets generating extra income for councils or landfill operators."

Applications for an energy efficiency grant should also be considered by councils, to help council and community buildings save energy and thousands of dollars through more efficient heating, cooling and lighting, under the Government's Low Carbon Communities program.

The Department of Climate Change and Energy Efficiency is partnering with ALGA and the Clean Energy Regulator to run a series of support sessions.

These will include face-to-face forums and webinars, which will assist councils in working through the necessary steps to factor the carbon price and carbon credit opportunities into their waste disposal services.

The Australian Human Resources Institute (AHRI) has released its Mature Age Workforce Participation 2012 survey.

The survey found that nearly half of participating companies recorded the loss of key areas of knowledge with a departure of an older worker, wile over one-fifth recorded a decrease in competitiveness.

The report indicates how much value the industry places on mature age workers, with 83 per cent of participants saying they would like to see steps taken within their organisation to ensure that mature aged workers are retained.

According to the survey, just under half of all respondents believe their organisation would support a Government subsidy to ensure the hiring and retention of mature aged workers.

The results come only weeks after the Federal Government announced a $1000 incentive to be granted to all companies who hire a mature age worker and retain them for over three months.

Despite this, the survey found respondents were generally against the idea of lifting the retirement age as a move to ensure greater participation rates amongst mature aged workers.

The survey can be found here

The Australian Research Council (ARC) has announced a $1 million funding extension for the Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security.

Announcing the funding, Acting ARC CEO Ms Leanne Harvey said the ARC Centre of Excellence in Policing and Security made a vital contribution to addressing a range of important issues from everyday policing to national and global security.

“Since then, the Centre has been undertaking high-quality research to better understand the origins, motivations and dynamics of crime and security threats. This research is helping Australia improve its crime prevention and security policies.

“The research is also helping improve education and training programs in forensic intelligence; inform infrastructure security and natural disaster responses; and contribute to the increasing professionalisation of police forces—particularly through its research into police leadership and ethics.”

Ms Harvey said she was pleased the funding would also help the Centre strengthen its close partnerships with Australian police, security experts and forensic services.

Director of the Centre Professor Simon Bronitt said the funding boost would help the Centre attract and train new research talent for the future.

"Since 2006, CEPS has grown to more than 100 researchers and associate investigators, based across four universities—Griffith University, the Australian National University, the University of Queensland and Charles Sturt University,” Professor Bronitt said.

The Centre, administered by Griffith University, was established in 2007 with ARC funding of $10 million over five years. The additional $1 million in funding has been awarded following a comprehensive review of the Centre’s operations and performance. The findings of the review were overwhelmingly positive and the additional funding will help the Centre to continue its research in 2013.

A team of researchers at the University of Sydney has completed research detailing how the brain reacts to the bombardment of visual and other sensory signals it constantly receives.

The research has broad implications for the understanding of the process used by the brain for interpreting the world visually, and how the brain itself works.

In an article published in the Proceedings of the National Academy of Science, Dr Isabelle Mareschal and Professor Colin Clifford from the University of Sydney’s School of Psychology and the Vision Centre, report a series of ground breaking experiments tracing the origins of a number of illusions to the cells of the primary visual cortex. 

"We tend to regard what we see as the real world," said Dr Mareschal.

"In fact a lot of it is distortion, and it is occurring in the early processing of the brain, before consciousness takes over. Our work shows that the cells of the primary visual cortex create small distortions, which then pass on to the higher levels of the brain, to interpret as best it can."

A common example of this that is often exploited by artists and designers is known as the tilt illusion where perfectly vertical lines appear tilted because they are placed on an oriented background.

"We wanted to test at what level the illusion occurs in the brain, unconscious or conscious - and also to see if the higher brain is aware of the illusions it is receiving and how it tries to correct for them," she explains.

"The answer is that the brain seeks more contextual information from the background to try to work out the alignment of the object it is seeing."

The team subjected volunteers to a complex test in which they indicated the orientation of a vertical line, perceived as constantly tilting from side to side, against a fuzzy background that was also changing.

"These illusions happen very fast, perhaps in milliseconds," Dr Mareschal says. "And we found that even the higher brain cannot always correct for them, as it doesn't in fact know they are illusions."

An international team, including members from the University of Sydney, has announced research that promises to reinvent modern computing through the development of ion-crystal technology.

The ion-crystal ‘quantum simulator’ technology has been used to develop a new breed of computer only 300 atoms in size, but with power that would require a contemporary computer the size of the known universe to match.

“The system we have developed has the potential to perform calculations that would require a supercomputer larger than the size of the known universe - and it does it all in a diameter of less than a millimetre," Dr Michael Biercuk of the University of Sydney said.

"The projected performance of this new experimental quantum simulator eclipses the current maximum capacity of any known computer by an astonishing 10 to the power of 80. That is 1 followed by 80 zeros, in other words 80 orders of magnitude, a truly mind-boggling scale."

The research far outstrips previous records in terms of the number of elements used together in a quantum simulator, meaning the machine can perform infinitely more complex tasks.

The team is made of leading scientists from the US National Institute of standards and Technology, Georgetown University, North Carolina State University and the Council for Scientific and Industrial Research in South Africa.

"Many properties of natural materials governed by the laws of quantum mechanics are very difficult to model using conventional computers. The key concept in quantum simulation is building a quantum system to provide insights into the behaviour of other naturally occurring physical systems,” Dr Biercuk said.

"By engineering precisely controlled interactions and then studying the output of the system, we are effectively running a 'program' for the simulation.

"In our case, we are studying the interactions of spins in the field of quantum magnetism - a key problem that underlies new discoveries in materials science for energy, biology, and medicine.”

"For instance, we hope to study the spin interactions predicted by models for high-temperature superconductivity - a physical phenomenon that has yet to be explained, but has the potential to revolutionise power distribution and high-speed transport."

The Victorian Government has announced funding of $1.04 million towards a $3.6 million project to revitalise the Maribyrnong area, Melbourne’s second-largest river valley.

State Environment and Climate Change Minister, Ryan Smith, said the project was vital to improving the quality of water flowing into Port Phillip Bay.

"In what is the largest environmental joint project yet to clean up and regenerate the Maribyrnong River Valley, communities will be working together to revitalise the river banks and ensure flow-on benefits for Port Phillip Bay," Mr Smith said.

The project brings together the Department of Sustainability and Environment, Hume, Brimbank, Moonee Valley and Maribyrnong councils, Melbourne Water, Parks Victoria, Port Phillip and Westernport CMA, City West Water, 200 private landowners, Melbourne Airport, and a number of Friends groups.

The CSIRO has announced a breakthrough in the development of a new resistant starch that may help protect against the development of bowel cancer.

Dr David Topping, from CSIRO’s Food Futures Flagship, found that dietary problems associated with a traditional low fibre diet were contributing to the prevalence of bowel cancer, the second most prevalent cancer in Australia.

“We have been trying to find out why Australians aren’t showing a reduction in bowel cancer rates and we think the answer is that we don’t eat enough resistant starch, which is one of the major components of dietary fibre,” Dr Topping said.

“It’s not just the amount of fibre that we eat that’s important, but the diversity of fibre in our diet.”

“We studied various sources of resistant starch, including corn and wheat, and the results suggest they could all protect against DNA damage in the colon, which is what can cause cancer.”

Dr Trevor Lockett, colorectal cancer researcher with CSIRO’s Preventative Health Flagship, said Australia has one of the highest incidence rates of bowel cancer in the world.

“Research suggests that improving our diets could go a long way to reducing our personal risk of developing this disease, which would also have the follow-on benefit of reducing healthcare costs associated with bowel cancer.

“These new studies suggest that increasing the amount of resistant starch in our diets may be one important step along the path to reducing the burden of bowel cancer. It takes about 15 years from the time of the first bowel cancer-initiating DNA damage to the development of full-blown bowel cancer, so the earlier we improve our diets the better,” Dr Lockett said.

“We have already had success in developing barley with high levels of resistant starch, and now our focus is on increasing the levels of resistant starch in commonly consumed grains like wheat.  These grains could then be used in breads and cereals to make it easier for Australians to get enough resistant starch from their diet,” Dr Topping said.

Resistant starch is a component of dietary fibre that resists digestion in the small intestine and instead passes through to the bowel where it has positive effects on bowel health. Resistant starch is sometimes called the third type of dietary fibre (in addition to soluble and insoluble fibre) and is found in legumes, some wholegrain breads and cereals, firm bananas and cooked and cooled potatoes, pasta and rice.

The Victorian Government has opened the state’s new Quantum Victoria physical sciences centre in Melbourne’s north.

State Education Minister Martin Dixon opened the new $16.2 million Charles La Trobe P-12 College, describing it as a huge boost for the future education of children in the areas of science and maths.

Quantum is a truly exciting centre, using computer games, virtual reality and robotics to show students what a career in maths and science can mean."

Students can participate in different scenarios designed to tackle an area of science, including: studying the physics at work in an iPad game of Angry Birds; taking part in an Amazing Race-style competition that touches on the key areas of the centre – science, technology, engineering and maths; or design a Formula 1 car and test it in a virtual wind tunnel.

Quantum is the sixth and final of the Victorian Government's specialised science education centres in Victoria, designed to engage students in science.

Students from all schools throughout Victoria are able to attend Quantum, and the centre will run an outreach program, enabling schools to run programs from anywhere in the state.

Federal Minister for Science and Research, Senator Chris Evans, officially opened the new $8.7 million Environmental Radioactivity Measurement Centre in New South Wales.

The first of its kind in Australia, the centre at the Australian Nuclear Science and Technology Organisation (ANSTO) at Lucas Heights, uses ultra-sensitive equipment to provide data for climate change studies and measure the natural radioactivity of items to ensure they meet import and export conditions.

"These readings will enhance scientists' understanding of the environment - everything from algal blooms to deforestation and the frequency of bushfires," Senator Evans said.

"The ITRAX - Corescanner, a key piece of equipment used to measure environmental samples and the only one of its kind in Australia, will be housed in the new facility and will allow thousands of measurements to be made within a few hours, instead of a few weeks.

"The new facility and equipment will ensure ANSTO scientists can continue their work as world leaders in dating and sorting human-induced environmental change from natural change.

"This research will help us predict future impacts on our environment so we can, in turn, develop more sustainable land and water practices to conserve our environment."

Senator Evans said designers and builders spent months sourcing and analysing materials with the lowest possible levels of natural radiation for the construction of the centre.

"Providing an environment with low background radiation enables the state-of-the-art equipment to detect tiny amounts of radiation that would otherwise be drowned out," Senator Evans said.

A surge in low socioeconomic students attending university shows Labor reforms are developing the talent that will help drive a high skilled and productive economy.

Minister for Tertiary Education, Senator Chris Evans, said for the first time, the number of university offers made to Australians from disadvantaged backgrounds has surpassed 40,000, a rise of almost 19 per cent since 2009.

"The Gillard Government's removal of capping on university places has seen 150,000 extra students enrol at university," Senator Evans said.

"This growth is, in part, being driven by increasing numbers of young people from low socioeconomic backgrounds.

"Until the Gillard Government removed the cap on university places the benefits associated with higher education have eluded many Australians. Our reforms mean we are increasingly tapping into the potential of all Australians, not just the privileged."

In response to the Bradley report, Transforming Australia's Higher Education System, the Labor Government set the ambitious target to ensure 20 per cent of people enrolling in an undergraduate course are from low socioeconomic backgrounds by 2020.

"Expanding the number of graduates in Australia is an economic imperative," Senator Evans said.

Skills Australia has forecast that by 2025 a third of all jobs will require a minimum of a bachelor degree qualification.

"It's not just that it is unfair to lock people out of university. We can't afford to," Senator Evans said.

Minister for School Education Peter Garrett hosted a discussion on Asian literacy with business leaders, focusing on how Government and business can work together to increase awareness of Asian culture and the study of Asian languages in Australian schools.

Mr Garrett also announced $4.6 million in Gillard Government funding for a further four years of core funding for the Asia Education Foundation, which aims to equip young Australians with knowledge, skills and understandings of the countries and cultures of Asia.

“Australia’s engagement with Asia is crucial to our nation’s future, which is why we must ensure Australian school students are well informed about Asian culture and are encouraged to study Asian languages,” Mr Garrett said.

“Asian countries are developing at a rapid rate and the global financial focus is turning to the Asian region. Building relationships with our Asian neighbours has never been more critical for Australia’s future prosperity.

“Studies of Asian histories, cultures, languages, social perspectives and politics have specifically been embedded across learning areas in the Australian Curriculum, which is now being rolled out across the country,” Mr Garrett said.

The Gillard Government has commissioned a White Paper on Australia in the Asian Century to consider the likely economic and strategic changes in the region and set out a strategic framework to guide Australia’s navigation of this Century.

The Northern Territory Government has announced a $28 million boost to Central Australian roads in the 2012 Budget.

“As part of the Territory Government’s Territory 2030 strategy, the Government is continuing to grow the size and skills of the NT workforce, while maintaining high levels of investment in public infrastructure, to underpin long-term development and growth,” Territory Minsiter for Lands and Planning Gerry McCarthy said.

Mr McCarthy said a $5 million injection would go toward upgrading and sealing 7kms of Namatjira Drive on the popular tourist route, the Red Centre Way.

“This will complete the sealing of the entire 157km length of Namatjira Drive, which will make the journey, for tourist buses and travellers in caravans, a lot smoother,” he said.

“The work is expected to start mid 2013 and be complete early 2014 with an estimated 50 people employed on the site throughout the construction of the project.

“A further $2 million will continue the ongoing upgrading and sealing of the Tanami Road under the Working Futures strategy to improve the lives of remote Territorians, through better access to communities in this instance.”

Mr McCarthy said the funds would facilitate the sealing and upgrading of 4kms of road, with more to come as the route from Alice Springs to the Kimberley is progressively sea

IBM Australia and The Sauce published the first Australian Business Process Outsourcing (BPO) Report 2012, which investigates the current state of business process outsourcing in Australia and points to future trends.

Global expansion is seen to be the key driver and benefit of outsourcing decisions amongst 71 per cent of organisations surveyed. The report also showed significant anticipated growth in business process outsourcing activity among large organisations with between 1,000 to 5,000 employees (this constituted one-third of all respondents). This group of Australian organisations is expecting an increase of 20 per cent over the next two years.

“The report reflects the rapid pace of change and maturity that the BPO industry has undergone over the last decade. It has evolved from pure cost cutting, to improved efficiency, to strategic transformation and an important part of business strategy,” said Russell Ives, Director, Global Process Services, IBM Growth Markets.

“The report highlights that Australia’s senior business community are aware of the benefits of outsourcing and decision makers are looking towards higher order benefits such as improving financial flexibility, driving free cash flow, strengthening customer satisfaction, increasing market penetration, expanding into emerging markets and taking advantage of the opportunities with a global economy,” said Ives.

The report highlights that while outsourcing decisions in the contact centre and customer service functions were by far the most widely reported, customer service functions are actually not among the top three of most outsourced activities. Human Resources, and Printing/Document Management were found to be the most outsourced functions (15 and 18 per cent), followed by Finance and Accounting (13 per cent). In the next 12 to 24 months, HR outsourcing is expected to grow to 23 per cent.

 The Western Australian Government has released the first surface water allocation for the Warren-Donnelly region in the state’s south west, aimed at providing long-term water security for the region’s irrigators. 

The plan effects around 400 landowners who have constructed 500 on-stream dams to capture and store water.

State Water Minister Bill Marmion said the new allocation limits, which were based on dry years, would ensure licence holders had reliable supplies while also providing water for the environment. 

“The new plan manages water for the benefit of all landowners and provides confidence that the investment potential in the region will be maintained. 

“It encapsulates more than 50 years of surface water licensing and management in the region as well as extensive stakeholder involvement.”

More information can be found here 

The Living Victoria Ministerial Advisory Council has released the final report into the future of Melbourne’s water.

"We now have a substantial reform process ahead of us to overhaul the urban water system and place a greater focus on local solutions instead of costly, large-scale infrastructure such as desalination,” Victoria’s Water Minister Peter Walsh said.

"These reforms will drive generational change in the way Melbourne uses rainwater, stormwater and recycled water and provide Victoria's next major water augmentation.

"Fit-for-purpose solutions to re-use stormwater and recycled water will reduce the pressure on our potable water supply by providing water for non-drinking purposes," Mr Walsh said.

The Victorian Government has outlined the formation of the Offie for Living Victoria (OLV) as a cross-government agency aimed at cutting red tape and driving integration of water and urban planning.

In the first 12 months, OLV will focus on integrated water planning, including the development of integrated water cycle plans for inner Melbourne and the city's four main growth areas.

"It will also prepare a regulatory impact statement for building controls to improve the water performance of new buildings and amend the Victorian Planning Provisions to improve stormwater management."

Also outlined in the report is:

• seek ways to give water customers greater control over their water bills by providing more tariff choices;
• develop investment guidelines to better reflect the value that the community places on urban amenity and the environment;
• work with local government and the water authorities on approaches to extend Melbourne Water's stormwater licensing arrangements to cover all government-owned stormwater infrastructure;
• release sewer mining guidelines to increase investment in wastewater re-use; and
• cut red tape to increase the use of alternative water sources and reduce pressure on catchment and desalinated water.

More information can be found here

Geelong's Botanic Gardens and Eastern Park in Victoria will be greener thanks to the construction of new stormwater irrigation infrastructure.

The Australian Government is providing funding of $415,000 for the Eastern Park project, which is part of $2.79 million in Australian Government funding for the broader Stormwater Harvesting and Reuse - Geelong's Plan project.

At Eastern Park today to inspect progress, Senator Don Farrell, Parliamentary Secretary for Sustainability and Urban Water, said the stormwater project would improve water supply security for the Botanic Gardens and Eastern Park.

"The new stormwater harvesting infrastructure will capture approximately 30 million litres of water a year, reducing reliance on drinking-quality water and allowing the Botanic Gardens and Eastern Park to access water in all conditions," he said.

"The project will also have benefits for the environmental health of Corio Bay as it will capture stormwater that is being discharged into the bay, treat it and hold it in a storage basin."

The storage basin is in the form of a man-made lake and will be surrounded by thousands of indigenous plants. Harvested water will flow through a pond and into the lake, which will hold approximately four million litres of water.