“Critical” national battery hub in doubt after state LNP government cuts $100 million in funding

Plans to develop a battery industry hub in Queensland are hanging in the balance, after the state portion of funding promised for the project was cut by the Crisafulli LNP government as it continues its war on renewable and associated technologies.

The Advanced Materials and Battery Council (AMBC) said on Monday that $105 million earmarked for development of a Queensland-based facility to accelerate national commercialisation of battery technology has been cut from the state’s 2025-26 budget.

The state funding for the proposed Australian Battery Industrialisation Centre (ABIC) had been pledged in 2022 by the former Labor Queensland government and was to be matched by federal Labor, through its National Battery Strategy.

But the state development minister and deputy premier Jarrod Bleijie confirmed on Monday that the Queensland portion of the funding has now been taken off the table.

“Given the uncertainty around the 2022 federal government commitment to establish a $100 million battery centre in Queensland, the [Queensland] government has decided not to progress with the Queensland Battery Industry Strategy or Australian Battery Industrialisation Centre at this time,” a spokesperson for Bleijie told Renew Economy on Monday.

“Under the LNP, the department of State Development will focus on three priority industries of defence, biomedical and biofuels,” the statement says. “This aligns with our election commitments.”

The decision to cut funding from a project the AMBC describes as “critical for the future” of Australia’s battery industry also aligns with the Queensland LNP’s shift away from clean energy and climate action.

Just last month, Bleijie’s department locked in major changes to how renewable energy projects will be assessed for development in the state, raising concern that Queensland is reverting back to a Campbell Newman-style ideological war on renewables.

The Crisafulli government has outlined a new five-year energy plan for the state that will focus on propping up its coal plants, investing in new gas power and pushing ahead with select pumped hydro projects.

It is also expected to include the repeal of the former Labor government’s legislated renewable energy targets, which aimed for a 50 per cent share by 2030, and 80 per cent by 2035. It’s decision to abandon a key hydrogen project in central Queensland also led to the project’s collapse.

AMBC CEO Quentin Hill says the ABIC would have provided much needed local battery testing and certification services directed to public safety. He says it is critical for the future of the industry that the project in Queensland proceeds.

“The industry needs this ABIC to fully realise our future potential in battery manufacturing,” Hill said on Monday. “Industry growth will be constrained without this critical infrastructure.

“Our abundance of critical minerals, world class material scientists and the electrification of everything means Australia has the potential to be a major global player in battery technology, but we need this technology infrastructure to grow the industry at this critical time.

Hill says the AMBC is looking forward to continuing to work with government to make the ABIC a reality and acknowledges the $100 million commitment from the Albanese Labor government that he says “remains secure.”

“Industry would also welcome the opportunity to continue working with the Queensland government to prioritise battery development within Defence industries,” said Hill.

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