THE CFMEU SA will oppose the South Australian Government’s planned privatisation of trades and maintenance crews which "will make hundreds of people redundant and rob the SA people of an important public asset".

The SA Government informed workers this week that it plans to fully outsource the services of the Across Government Facilities Management Arrangement (AGFMA), cutting up to 160 jobs, including apprentices, across public hospitals, railways and trams, road transport and schools.

“Cutting jobs and making people redundant during an economic crisis is irresponsible and will only deepen the financial pain for South Australians,” said Andrew Sutherland, CFMEU national assistant construction secretary.

“The privatisation of AGFMA maintenance and service work would undercut the State Government’s own industry skills commitments and stated support for building industry jobs.

“The South Australian government’s privatisation push and the sacking of apprentices flies in the face of Scott Morrison’s commitments to training and upskilling Australians as part of the economic recovery from COVID-19.

“Steven Marshall assured South Australians before the last state election that he did not have a privatisation agenda. His actions this week show this commitment was entirely untrue and South Australians will have a right to ask what’s next on his government’s agenda.

“It is shameful to see the SA Government pursue a privatisation agenda that will cost jobs during the economic shock of the pandemic crisis. Privatisation of public services and assets has failed time and again, resulting in higher costs to the public, lower quality of service and poor outcomes for workers. Yet conservative governments remain committed to stripping public assets for private gain.

“Unions, including the CFMEU and CEPU, will vigorously oppose the privatisation push and are calling for all trades to be retained within the public sector.

“The ALP must also to commit to reverse any privatisations made under the current Liberal government in South Australia.”

Services that are likely to be affected by AGFMA privatisation are:

• Queen Elizabeth Hospital
• Flinders Medical Centre
• Lyell McEwin Hospital
• Women’s and children’s Hospital
• Modbury Hospital
• Royal Adelaide Hospital
• Noarlunga Hospital
• Pt Lincoln Hospital
• Whyalla Hospital
• Port Pirie Hospital
• Building Maintenance Facilities Services (BMFS) Netley
• Public Transport Services Netley (public transport ticketing systems)

Possible impact on country health services:

• Barmera Hospital
• Renmark Hospital
• Victor Harbor Hospital
• Clare Hospital
• Cowell Hospital

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THE Australian Energy Market Commission (AEMC) has announced it would introduce a Wholesale Demand Response Mechanism (DRM).

The  DRM will pay large energy users, such as water treatment plants, if they reduce their energy use at times that benefit the energy system. Reducing demand during a heatwave, or when the output of generators is very low, can help keep the electricity system stable and lower energy bills for all energy users.

This reform will support the development of more demand response capacity in the National Electricity Market (NEM), and has long been advocated by a broad coalition consumer, environment and industry groups.

AEMC chief executive, Benn Barr, said, “We have considered requests to delay this reform, but we think the case for pressing forward is strongest because acting now will help keep the power system reliable and secure ahead of the 2021/22 summer. Despite COVID, we still need to keep prices down, keep the market working efficiently and work to lower emissions in the energy sector.”

Energy Efficiency Council CEO, Luke Menzel, said, "Kudos to the AEMC for pushing ahead with this crucial reform. And congratulations to the many passionate advocates that have driven this conversation over the last decade. The hard work has paid off, and resulted in a rule change that will deliver lower energy bills for everyday Australians.”

www.eec.org.au

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THE Queensland Resources Council has welcomed the Palaszczuk Government’s designation of the proposed $1.5 billion Glencore Valeria coal mine in central Queensland as a coordinated project.

QRC chief executive Ian Macfarlane said the Valeria coal project, near Capella on the Central Highlands, offers 1400 construction jobs and 950 ongoing jobs once operational.

“Queensland needs these jobs more than ever,” Mr Macfarlane said.

“The announcement today means the Valeria project will start the comprehensive assessment process as a coordinated project through the Office of the Coordinator-General.

“It is projects like these that create thousands of jobs and billions of dollars in investment, exports and royalties."

Last financial year, the resources sector supported 372,000 jobs and generated $74 billion in economic activity, $61 billion in exports and more than $5 billion in royalties that the Queensland Government could reinvest on behalf of all Queenslanders in services and infrastructure.

www.qrc.org.au

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UNIVERSITY research projects and jobs are being given a vital boost with prominent early-stage venture capital fund Stoic Venture Capital increasing its investment in start-ups that are commercialising university inventions.

Stoic is bucking the trend of other venture capital funds that are backing away from university research and start-up companies because of heightened volatility and risk.

Stoic Venture Capital managing partner for investments, Geoff Waring said the impact of COVID-19 was exacerbating the short supply of early stage venture capital in Australia leaving universities unable to commercialise their innovations.

“Stoic presents universities with a critical source of seed stage capital to help transform their research into emerging companies,” Dr Waring said.

“This will ensure that many high potential university research projects can move out of the lab and into development or trials despite the impact of COVID-19.”

Stoic is an Early Stage Venture Capital Limited Partnership (ESVCLP) which gives investors rare access to disruptive companies not available elsewhere with added tax benefits.

Stoic’s team includes executive chairman of Atlas Advisors Australia and former chief executive officer of award-winning private bank Macquarie Private Bank Guy Hedley, executive director of Atlas Advisors Australia Fiona Zhuang and Dr Waring. 

“Our close partnership with university-backed investment fund Uniseed gives Stoic investors access to returns commensurate with the rich opportunities coming out of Australia’s top universities,” Dr Waring said.

“These leading universities produce some of the country’s highest potential technology addressing global unmet needs.

“Investing in unlisted start-ups via top performing venture capital funds presents higher long term returns than top fund managers in more established asset classes such as property, public equities or bonds. 

“It also offers diversification benefits with less exposure to market volatility and risk because of their lower correlation with traditional asset classes.”

Stoic’s portfolio of investments includes some of Australia’s most game-changing products in robotics, computer hardware, medicine, science, agritech and biotech.

These include Agerris (robotics), Aurtra (power management), Cardihab (telehealth), Certa (biotech), Ena Therapeutics (immunity enhancer), Exonate (eyedrops for macular degeneration), Ferronova (cancer diagnostic) Forcite Helmet Systems (motorcycle tech), Kinoxis (treating addiction), Nexgen Plants (genetics), PERKii (probiotic armour), Que Oncology (drug) and Wildlife Drones (tracking).

“These companies are potentially Australia’s future exporters that will help grow our economy, jobs and reward investors,” Dr Waring said.

About Stoic Venture Capital

Stoic Venture Capital provides financing for early-stage companies, particularly those arising from university research. Stoic is unconditionally registered as an ESVCLP and it takes a collaborative approach to investing in the highest potential companies.

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