Industry minister Ed Husic has defended his department’s decision to withdraw $442 million in grants announced under the former government’s Modern Manufacturing Initiative, saying tough “decisions had to be made” where projects had materially changed.
As the Coalition doubles down on its criticism of the government for axing the eight “shovel ready” manufacturing grants, Mr Husic also said that the delays in signing off on the grants had, in some cases, been requested by the unsuccessful firms.
As reported by InnovationAus.com on Tuesday, only nine projects approved for co-investment under the Collaboration stream of the Modern Manufacturing Initiative almost 18 months ago will go ahead as planned.
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