'Disgusting': Million-dollar manufacturing grants go to multinationals

Australian-owned businesses say it is "disgusting" that millions in grants announced during the election campaign to help small and medium-sized firms expand went to offshoots of multinationals and other outfits, including a company producing controversial "homoeopathic medicine".

The $50 million Manufacturing Modernisation Fund announced during the 2019 election campaign was launched in April 2020 with $1.1 million for a project to bring back the Polly Waffle confectionary bar.

Publicising the program last year, federal Industry Minister Karen Andrews said the fund would help local manufacturers by subsidising 200 projects in Australia and creating more than 2600 jobs.

"[It] will have a positive impact on the economy through increasing the competitiveness of Australian manufacturing businesses," she said.

But unsuccessful bidders described the grants process as a "waste of time" and questioned why corporations with thousands of employees including Nissan (which received $862,537), Ferretti International Ottoway ($750,000), Vossloh Cogifer Australia ($1 million) and Klinger ($514,750) were competing with small local companies.

Parent companies were not deemed relevant by the program if they had Australian incorporated entities with fewer than 200 employees.

Founder of Wayward Brewing Company Peter Philip said it was "disgusting" that multinationals received millions when they had the capital to invest, while smaller businesses missed out for "basically identical projects".

The biggest beer company in the world, Anheuser-Busch InBev, received $700,000 from the fund for an "automated multi-function packaging line" at its 4 Pines brewery, as reported by BrewsNews.

Mr Philip applied to expand his brewery by adding automated packaging but was told he did not get funded because the program "was massively oversubscribed" and "maybe your application could have been worded better" despite others, including 4 Pines, getting money for similar projects.

"Big companies can afford to hire consultants to write their applications, but I had to do it myself and it took me 10 12-hour days to pull it together, so it wasn't a slap-dash job," Mr Philip, who is also chairman of the Independent Brewers Association said.

"I'm pissed off for all of our members because their worthy projects shouldn't have been rejected just because they didn't use a few buzzwords bureaucrats wanted to see."

Grants were chosen by an Industry department official following assessment by a committee made up of three unknown industry representatives and three other departmental officials.

Professor Beth Webster, from Swinburne University's Centre for Transformative Innovation, said grants should be given out by expert committees, not public servants.

"Direct grants for technologies when given overseas are done by experts independent of the government, open to scrutiny," Professor Webster said.

A million-dollar grant going to homoeopathic products manufacturer Brauer Natural Medicine for a "nutraceutical manufacturing line" was also controversial.

Homoeopathy is a system of alternative medicine which the Australian Medical Association says is pseudoscientific and baseless.

Last year the Pharmaceutical Society of Australia (PSA) urged its members not to sell homeopathic remedies because "there is no reliable evidence for the use of homoeopathic products".

Brauer was contacted for comment. Its website says their products are available in 4000 pharmacies and health food stores around Australia. The Sun-Herald also sent questions to Ms Andrews. She referred to previous press releases about the program.

Shadow industry spokesman Brendan O'Connor said the government needed to show these grants were provided fairly and transparently.