COVID-19
The COVID-19 crisis has focused attention on the need to boost Australian manufacturing and the resilience of our value chains. As such, the crisis has heightened the relevance of our program. Australia’s federal, state and territory governments are implementing measures to support business and community through the crisis and recovery phase. Two general initiatives rolled out by the federal government are the JobKeeper payment and Boosting cashflow for employers. We are also hoping to see specific stimulus packages in the areas of regional development, supply chain innovation and advanced manufacturing. The CRC is liaising with state and federal authorities regarding initiatives of special importance to the future food sector and will post links and updates here. The depth of impacts of the pandemic on the domestic and global economy are difficult to predict. Currently, there are significant disruptions to the agrifood supply chain, domestically and globally. Many of our partners are grappling with demand and supply challenges. CRC partners and other industry insiders have advised that certain markets for Australian food goods are likely to be depressed by the inability of customers to pay. This, however, may be balanced by new domestic and export opportunities, including new home-consumer markets and increased demand for trusted food goods and related specialised technology.