Consult Australia’s new SA & NT Manager Matthew Williams is ready to help members make the most of the “massive market opportunities” ahead – from renewable energy and the hydrogen “green gold rush” to new investment in the defence industry.

Matt joined Consult Australia in January, bringing with him strong skills in government advocacy, political and policy analysis, and stakeholder relations.

“The chance to collaborate with great member companies working on major infrastructure projects, and to advocate for those companies to key stakeholders, including governments, was one I didn’t want to miss,” he says.

Matt spent six years with federal government. He was a federal member of parliament, representing the South Australian seat of Hindmarsh, from 2013 to 2016 and then an advisor to a federal cabinet minister. He has worked with most governments around Australia in a variety of capacities including as an advisor to state government ministers.

Matt has already been conversing with members and meeting with government ministers – and he says the current skills squeeze is a hot topic with both.

“Getting the right skills is tough today and securing a future pipeline of engineers is a long-term issue,” he notes. According to forecasts from Infrastructure Australia, South Australia currently has 1,900 fewer engineering professionals than it needs to deliver its public infrastructure agenda. 

Consult Australia's 2022 report, Thinking Smarter about Skills, outlines systemic challenges that have been exacerbated by record high government investment in infrastructure. This includes important “nation-building” projects like the $15.4 billion North-South Corridor road project – “the biggest infrastructure project the state has ever seen”.

Skill shortages may capture a lot of the industry’s headspace, but there’s an opportunity to lift our eyes to the horizon, Matt adds, pointing to two big opportunities ahead.

“Seventy per cent of South Australia’s energy was renewable in 2022. In fact we generate more renewable energy than any other gigawatt scale grid in the world. We have the capacity to generate more renewable energy than we need – and green hydrogen can help us export that excess energy to the world.”

The South Australian Government has committed to a new green hydrogen industry with a proposed production and storage facility near Whyalla, Matt notes. “Hydrogen could be as pivotal to South Australia’s twenty first century economy as the gold rush was to Victoria’s in the nineteenth century.”

Consult Australia’s members are rapidly upskilling, Matt adds, and readying themselves for the “green gold rush” that will materialise as the green hydrogen sector takes off. “There will be great demand for expertise in design of hydrogen power plants, pipelines and storage facilities, for instance.” 

Growth in Australia defence capability is another emerging opportunity as the $100 billion nuclear submarine project takes shape. Matt was close to the federal government’s decision to locate Australia’s defence ship building program in South Australia, and will be watching the outcomes of the Defence Strategic Review with interest. 

“We will soon learn how the Australia’s defence capability and structure will shift, and what that means for infrastructure development.

“Australia’s future defence program is likely to undergo significant changes with a greater focus on long range capability involving more missiles and planes and possibly fewer tanks. Whatever the composition, the changes are likely to demand a lot of new infrastructure, like hangars for planes and drones. None of this can be built without Consult Australia members.

“Uplifting South Australia’s green hydrogen and defence capabilities can be transformative for Australia and I’m looking forward to working with members in these exciting areas of opportunity,” Matt concludes.