Education Minister Dan Tehan continues his policy of giving research-funding announcements to local members
Senator Sarah Henderson has launched the Australian Research Council’s new Training Centre for Future Energy Storage Technologies, at Deakin U. The feds are providing $4.4m over five years, with 15 partner organisations kicking in another $6.7m in cash and kind.
Senator Henderson is the closest thing the government has to a local member for Deakin U in greater Geelong. She used to hold the seat of Corangamite, which includes Deakin U’s Waurn Ponds campus – losing it to Labor at the last election. She then filled took Mitch Fifield’s senate seat when he resigned. The next-door electorate of Corio, which includes Deakin U’s waterfront campus is solid Labor.
The government also announced a separate $2m Hydrogen Transition Centre, at Deakin Warrnambool, to research hydrogen fuel cells to power freight-trucking.
The member for the local seat of Wannon got to make the announcement, a bloke called Dan Tehan.