Senator David Fawcett

5 days ago

AIRBUS JOINS SA’S AUSTRALIAN SPACE PARK FACILITYMultinational aerospace company Airbus have announced they are establishing a major satellite integration and assembly facility at Australia’s first dedicated space manufacturing hub – the Australian Space Park here in SA.The new manufacturing facility will enable technologically advanced satellites of up to 300kg to be produced locally, further cementing SA as the nation’s space state. In March, the former Federal Liberal Government matched the $20 million investment of the former Marshall State Government in SA’s Australian Space Park taking the total joint Federal-State government investment to $40 million for the $66 million facility. Private investment will fund the remainder.4 companies are partnering to create this facility and further develop SA’s space manufacturing capability and capacity, including Fleet Space Technologies, Q-CTRL, ATSpace and Alauda Aeronautics. More than $800 million was committed by the former Coalition Government between 2018 and 2022 to grow the civil space sector – funding programs like the Moon to Mars Initiative, the Space Infrastructure Fund and the International Space Investment Initiative. Our government also committed a further $7 billion, over the decade, to developing Defence’s space capabilities.See an artist impression of the Space Park here: bit.ly/3OPIAmh ... See MoreSee Less

Airbus announces its commitment to the Australian Space Park in South Australia - APDR

asiapacificdefencereporter.com

Airbus Defence and Space, together with the Government of South Australia, has today announced its plans to establish an assembly and integration presence at Australian Space Park in Adelaide – a bespoke facility to drive Australian space industry manufacturing capability and capacity.

Senator David Fawcett

5 days ago

FINALLY - A NUCLEAR ENERGY REVIEWA recent OECD report highlights that nuclear power offers the lowest-cost, high-capacity option for advanced economies to meet growing energy demand while producing close to zero greenhouse gas emissions. In fact the OECD report concludes that without nuclear power it is unlikely the world will be able to afford to reach net-zero. Despite its benefits, there has been a prohibition in Australia on even considering nuclear power. This is as a result of the legislative trade-offs with minor parties in the Senate over 20 years ago.As a nation, we will not be able to assess the benefits or otherwise of nuclear energy in an Australian context unless the prohibition on nuclear power generation is lifted.In the absence of Government action to repeal the prohibition, I welcome the announcement this week by the Hon Peter Dutton MP of a formal internal review to report to the Coalition policy committee on the potential use of nuclear technologies for the benefit of Australian energy security and power prices.The commissioning of this review marks an important step towards greater transparency in discussions about the application of nuclear technologies in the Australian context. Given the energy crisis and the demand for emissions reduction, Australians should be requiring their government develop effective policy that is transparently based on all available evidence.In an Op-Ed that I wrote recently highlighting this substantial weakness in Australia’s energy and emissions reduction policy I said:“The omission of nuclear options is at odds with Australia’s long-held position that policy development should be evidence based… Given the serious implications of unintended consequences for cost of living, energy, economic and national security, it should cause alarm that the Government’s energy and emissions policies are not based on complete and comprehensive evidence.”Full Op-Ed available via the link below.More information on the review: bit.ly/3ziNwtS ... See MoreSee Less

Achieving net zero: Legislate targets or target legislation?

senatorfawcett.com.au

Australians should demand effective policy that is transparently based on all available evidence. This will only be possible if the Government acts to repeal the outdated, politically-driven barriers to evaluating the option of nuclear power generation. If Australia is serious about achieving net ze...