Luke Howarth (Petrie, Liberal Party, Assistant Minister for Youth and Employment Services) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I visited Reid Print Technologies, a business in my electorate at Clontarf, and I was blown away by the products coming out of an unassuming building in one of our light industrial areas. People would drive past, see these buildings and go, 'What's in there?' What's in there is pretty amazing. We're talking about high-tech printed sensory technology printed onto flexible plastics. They're providing, amongst other things, electric car chargers to a company in Brisbane, Tritium. Ninety per cent of this work is happening in China. International companies, however, are waking up to the quality of these locally produced products through Reid Print Technologies, especially companies where precision is essential—and other members would agree. Companies like Boeing, for example, in aviation; Queensland Rail; and defence industries all need these high-quality tech products.

Let me give you some other examples. Think about a regular car and the radio or UHF antenna that hangs out the side of it. Members might have seen one snapped off in their time and replaced with the old wire coathanger so they could get the radio. This company, Reid Print Technologies, is printing UHF antennas onto transparent, flexible membranes, like a sticker, that you now apply to your car window. They couldn't tell me how much, because of confidentiality, but they are in high-level collaborations with a major communications multinational to merge this technology with theirs. It's exciting stuff. This company is the only Australian manufacturer integrating their sensors into wearable technology.

At the moment, they're working with a motorcycle company that has asked them to adapt their clothing by heat printing wafer-thin membranes laced with conductive grids with copper and aluminium ink printed onto it so it can be hooked up to a power source, like a motorcycle battery, to heat the clothing of the person on the motorcycle. We're down in Canberra at the moment and it's fairly cold, but even in Brisbane it has been cold. You can think, if you're on a motorbike, of wearing a jacket that's heated because of this technology coming out of Reid Print Technologies.

The same non-invasive wearable tech has been developed for use in aged-care settings as well, where they can do it to pyjamas, with sensors to detect temperature and movement, which can provide valuable feedback to nurses, family members, carers or medical centres to look after our aged Australians. This is advanced innovation, and Australians are renowned for it, from developing refrigeration in the early 1800s to black box recorders. Under the Morrison government's modern manufacturing strategy, we've just announced a further $1.5 billion for companies like Reid Print Technologies.