Innovation is Happening – But Where Is Industry’s Collective Voice?

Last week in The Hunter, I joined Beyond Zero Emissions for the New Energy Symposium and an industry workshop…

The discussions were compelling and revealed this much: there’s no shortage of innovation happening on the ground, but my observation is that there is something important missing, which is impeding progress on the journey to net zero emissions.

Small and medium-sized manufacturers are getting on with the job

It was striking to see just how many small and medium-sized manufacturers are actively working to decarbonise and modernise their operations. These are businesses getting on with the job—finding efficiencies, redesigning processes, cutting emissions. The innovation is impressive! But it’s also clear that many are reaching the limits of what they can do on their own.

The missing link: common user infrastructure

Take, for example, the steel bar manufacturer Milltech Martin Bright. They’ve already done the hard work: retooling their operations, pushing the boundaries of efficiency, and striving to deliver a low-emissions product. But they’ve hit a wall. Without access to renewable electricity delivered through new transmission lines that they can’t build and wind farms they don’t control, their progress has stalled. They can see a net zero future, but they cannot reach it alone. Common user infrastructure, connecting the renewable electricity generating businesses with green energy hungry businesses is a missing link.

Where is the collective voice of industry?

This brings me to my second, and I think bigger, takeaway: while individual companies are innovating, we’re not yet hearing from the industry’s collective voice. There is no coordinated, consolidated and representative voice for the Hunter’s industrial precincts and communities. That absence is a real problem.

The Port of Newcastle is bold, but needs united input

Look at the Port of Newcastle for example. It has boldly allocated land for its Clean Energy Precinct—potentially a new hub for green industry in the region. But right now, it’s mostly a vision. The Port isn’t hearing from a united voice representing the interests of current and future tenants.

Commitment needs coordination

Hunter precincts need green hydrogen, reliable zero-emissions electricity and its transmission, and carbon capture. Without that clarity, the Precinct lacks both direction and momentum. The interest is there, but interest doesn’t build infrastructure. Commitment does, and governments do.

An industry body could play a pivotal role

And commitment is difficult without coordination. An industry body with genuine representation across energy-intensive manufacturers could play a pivotal role here—guiding planning, aligning investment, and pressing governments to deliver enabling infrastructure. It could ensure the Precinct meets the needs of real businesses, not just imagined ones. And it could give state and federal policymakers something tangible to respond to—a roadmap drawn not by policy makers and planners alone, but by the industries that will actually use the infrastructure.

The Hunter is well placed to lead

Reflecting on my visit to the Hunter and my engagements with its stakeholders, my assessment is that the region is well placed to secure the future of local Australian manufacturing in a net zero-carbon world. I saw an optimistic group of people – industry large and small, the education and government sectors, and innovators, all with a palpable and clear interest in the future.

Link company ambition to national strategy

The trick for the Hunter’s industry and communities is to connect company-level ambition to collective action, and local innovation to national strategy. Without these actions, great ideas can stall out just short of the future they could create.

Leadership needs a chorus, not a solo act

My conclusion? Innovation in The Hunter is not the issue. Industry is trying to lead. But leadership needs a chorus, not a solo act. The numerous representative organisations need to sing from the one song sheet.

Mixed messaging to government is paralysing progress

The current messaging to government can be mixed, confusing, contradictory, disjointed, and as a result there are probably too many priorities being earnestly presented to it. This can paralyse the government departments responsible for driving policy and process.

The Hunter has a path forward

I believe the workshop last week has identified the governance structure for a constructive way forward, for all, and I’m optimistic that this will set the Hunter up for success.

Ironically, this path has identified the same governance structure, incorporating local refinements, that we (the Kwinana Industries Council) identified five years ago as the Western Trade Coast Development Board. It was referred into JTSI as a serious proposal by the then Premier and Deputy Premier of WA, to bring back as a pathway to establishing it. Sadly and probably in hindsight predictably, it came back as yet another taskforce which was of course doomed to fail, and it did. The Hunter can learn from the WA mistakes and put in a governance structure that will propel it into a successful and productive future.