Palaszczuk Government funding creates job opportunities in Darra

A Darra contract bio-pharmaceutical development and manufacturing company is looking to expand its workforce by 50 positions after receiving hundreds of thousands of dollars in funding support from the Palaszczuk Government.

Premier and Member for Inala Annastacia Palaszczuk said Luina Bio had received an offer of more than $490,000 from Round 3 of the Queensland Government’s Made in Queensland (MiQ) funding grants program.

“Manufacturers are helping to power Queensland’s economic recovery from the worldwide impact of COVID-19 by investing locally and creating jobs,” the Premier said.

“That’s why we’re supporting them through our MiQ grants which provides matched funding to manufacturers looking to become more internationally competitive, adopt new innovative processes and technologies and create high-skilled jobs of the future.

“I look forward to seeing the important work Luina Bio will do with this funding and importantly the 50 jobs they’ll create over five years.”

Minister for Regional Development and Manufacturing Glenn Butcher said Luina Bio was looking to spend almost a million dollars to introduce ground-breaking bio-pharmaceutical drying process technology.

“The technology will enable the company to move from a paper-based quality system to an innovative electronic system,” Mr Butcher said.

“The new innovative systems and equipment will not only support expeditious product development but also expand Luina Bio’s current manufacturing capability, providing an avenue for Australian drug and vaccine developers to manufacture locally and retain their intellectual property.” 

Luina Bio CEO Les Tillack said the introduction of this latest technology to our Darra facility will support our existing bio-manufacturing capability and enable us to onshore more of the global value chain at scale. This new processing capability addresses more complex bio- manufacturing processes presently unaccommodated in Australia.

“The installation of the new innovative systems and equipment will provide additional capability for us to offer more services to a broader market both domestically and around the world,” he said.

“It means that we need to employ additional highly skilled employees, expanding our technical and knowledge leadership in order to meet the growing number of contracts across the biotechnology, pharmaceutical and veterinary industry markets that have been encouraged in anticipation of this project.” 

Mr Butcher said the outbreak of the COVID-19 pandemic has highlighted the importance of the Queensland manufacturing sector and its ability to respond to and address supply chain challenges.

“The Palaszczuk Government is committed to the ongoing transformation of the state’s manufacturing industry as it transitions to advanced manufacturing,” he said.

Over two rounds of MIQ, 65 of the 75 projects have already been completed.  Manufacturers have retained over 3,400 existing jobs and already created more than 380 new jobs through these projects. 

In total, 900 new jobs are expected to be created over five years as productivity, quality improvements, onshoring and waste reduction benefits are maximised.   

Made in Queensland complements the Queensland Advanced Manufacturing 10-Year Roadmap and Action Plan, which sets out a vision for an innovative, sustainable and globally recognised advanced manufacturing sector in Queensland by 2026.

Visit the Made in Queensland website at dsdmip.qld.gov.au/industry/priority-industries/advanced-manufacturing/made-in-qld.html for more information.

ENDS

Media contact: Dan Lato 0438 891 158