Sarah Henderson (Corangamite, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise to pay tribute to a company operating in my electorate called Carbon Revolution. Carbon Revolution is a privately owned Australian company that has developed the world's first full, one-piece carbon fibre composite wheel. The company's core business is in advanced materials and research and development, and it has formed many partnerships around the world for its technology development and product testing. The company originated seven years ago as a research and development project in partnership with Deakin University in Geelong—a great member of the Geelong community. Its founders include past members of academic staff, a PhD and undergraduate students. Early collaboration with high-performance vehicle manufacturers confirmed the viability of this technology. From the outset, the company has adopted a clear strategy of understanding, fulfilling and ultimately exceeding original equipment manufacturer requirements and standards prior to launching products into the automotive product market.

It is with great pride that yesterday we heard the federal and state governments announce that Carbon Revolution will receive a $5 million grant as part of the Geelong Region Innovation and Investment Fund. This grant is part of an investment in a $23 million project to take the company from currently producing 4,000 wheels through to a production run of 50,000 wheels. What this is going to do is put Carbon Revolution on a platform where it becomes a tier 1 auto component supplier to the world. When it made its application, it was predicting it would develop 108 new jobs, but yesterday we heard that that number has now risen to 150. The company is now looking, with its growth plans, at a further 150 jobs. That is great news in my region of Geelong, which has taken some hits lately, such as Ford going 12 months ago. The end of car manufacturing has been a very big blow to my community. It is with great pride that we nurture and we look forward to many more wonderful stories of advanced manufacturing in the Geelong region and across Corangamite.

I also want to commend the leaders of this company; the chief executive officer, Mr Dingle; and the chairman, James Douglas. They have led this company, they are great local leaders in our community and I greatly commend the work they are doing to take Geelong innovation to the world.