• Campaign trail: At East Coast Canning (l-r) prime minister Scott Morrison; owner Chris Kelly; company HR manager Mel, and Andrew Constance
    Campaign trail: At East Coast Canning (l-r) prime minister Scott Morrison; owner Chris Kelly; company HR manager Mel, and Andrew Constance
  • Personalised: East Coast Canning can for the prime minister
    Personalised: East Coast Canning can for the prime minister
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Prime Minister Scott Morrison opened his 2022 election campaign with a visit to East Coast Canning, a start-up mobile canning, printing, labelling and packaging business on the NSW south coast.

Morrison was spruiking the government’s message of supporting innovation and employment, and supporting would-be MP Andrew Constance, who is aiming to overturn the marginal seat of Gilmore from Labor.

Personalised: East Coast Canning can for the prime minister

East Coast Canning owner Chris Kelly, who started the business five years ago with the help of a government grant, presented the prime minster with a custom-designed can, labelled as Scomo’s Strong Economy.

Morrison accepted the can with glee, before laying into the opposition leader’s inability to say what the current unemployment rate is, and citing East Coast Canning as an example of his government supporting a business to create employment.

From its early beginnings East Coast Canning now has 35 staff, operating five Codi canning machines around Australia. Since launch it has seamed 35 million cans, and labelled 10 million.

Food & Drink Business

Former assistant minister for manufacturing and Future Made in Australia, Tim Ayres, has been sworn in as Australia’s new minister for Industry and Innovation and minister for Science, replacing Ed Husic. He is supported by Assistant Minister for Science, Technology and the Digital Economy, Andrew Charlton.

The demand for convenient, health-oriented packaged foods has had a dramatic rise, with Australians increasingly turning to ready meals and snacks that support their dietary and health commitments. The Naturally Good Expo 2025 showcases leaders in this space.

Plant protein ingredient company, Wide Open Agriculture, says it has firm commitments of $2.6 million via a placement of 0.023 cents per share. It will also offer a share purchase plan (SPP) for eligible shareholders to raise up to an additional $500,000.