The Albanese government has accelerated access to three National Reconstruction Fund sub-programs, including a $1 billion zero-interest loan facility for fuel, fertiliser and other critical supply chain businesses, as global trade disruption continues to pressure Australian manufacturers.
The federal government has brought forward $6.15 billion in concessional capital under the $15 billion National Reconstruction Fund (NRF), with three sub-programs to open ahead of their original schedules to support businesses under pressure from global supply chain disruption.
The package was announced jointly by prime minister, Anthony Albanese, and industry minister, Tim Ayres, on 2 April, with the government citing “unprecedented events overseas” – a reference to the Iran war and ongoing US tariff volatility and the global trade disruption it has generated – as the impetus for accelerating the release of funds.
“Businesses right across the country in dozens of industries are under severe pressure because of unprecedented events overseas,” Ayres said. “By bringing forward $6.15 billion in capital, the National Reconstruction Fund can more quickly support businesses to increase production, capability and capacity”.
For industry responses to the news, see our article here.
The three programs
The $1 billion Economic Resilience Program (ERP) will provide zero-interest loans to businesses in fuel, fertiliser and other critical supply chain sectors. The government said it is designed to support domestic production and logistics continuity – keeping “trucks, trains and planes moving, and our critical production activities online”.
For the food and beverage manufacturing sector, which is a significant consumer of both fuel and fertiliser inputs along its supply chain, the ERP represents a direct source of working capital support if those supply chains come under further cost or availability pressure.
The $5 billion Net Zero Fund, originally scheduled to open mid-year, will open sooner. It targets new manufacturing investment and energy efficiency improvements in hard-to-abate sectors, including scaling domestic manufacturing capability in clean energy supply chains – wind, solar and energy storage – and the production of low-carbon liquid fuels.
Food and beverage manufacturing is one of Australia’s most energy-intensive sectors, and processors in categories including dairy, meat, brewing and packaging have been progressively investing in renewable energy and electrification. The Net Zero Fund’s earlier opening expands access to concessional finance to support that transition.
The $150 million Forestry Growth Fund will support timber processing, investment in mills, and moving forestry products up the value chain for use in housing construction. This program has less direct relevance to food manufacturing but sits within the NRF’s broader value-add in agriculture, forestry and fisheries priority area, which has $500 million of the NRF targeted at unlocking potential through value-adding.
NRF context and slow rollout
The acceleration of these sub-programs comes after sustained criticism of the NRF’s pace of deployment since it was legislated in March 2023. In September 2024, the fund told Senate Estimates its first investments would come “within weeks”, following a period in which it had received 218 investment proposals by mid-2024 without having made a single investment.
The fund’s inaugural CEO Ivan Power resigned in late 2024 due to health reasons after just months in the role.
The NRF does not provide grants – it provides concessional debt finance, equity, and guarantees. For food and beverage manufacturers, this means capital access is contingent on investment-readiness and the ability to service debt or provide equity stakes, which has been a structural barrier for smaller and mid-sized operators.
The Industry Growth Program (IGP), a complementary federal initiative, has been designed to build manufacturers up to that investment-ready threshold, with the Food and Agribusiness Network (FAN) awarded close to $2 million in IPO funding to establish ClusterConnect – a system to facilitate collaboration and commercialisation opportunities for food and agribusiness SMEs ahead of NRF proposals. Cauldron was granted $4.3 million through the commercialisation and growth stream.
As of August 2025, the IGP had dispensed close to $112 million of its proposed $392 million across 75 companies supporting projects aligned with NRF priority areas.
Supply chain and tariff context
The timing of the announcement – 2 April 2026 – is notable. To the day, one year ago, US President Donald Trump announced sweeping global tariffs, triggering a period of significant global trade disruption.
Global tariff escalations in 2025 reshuffled more than $570 billion (US$400 billion) in global trade flows, while major shipping route disruptions resulted in a 40 per cent year-on-year increase in container shipping costs.
Australian food and beverage manufacturers have been exposed to the downstream effects of those disruptions through ingredient and packaging import costs, freight availability, and the repricing of export markets.
The government’s framing of the ERP specifically around fertiliser supply is also pointed. Australia imports most of its nitrogen fertiliser, and fertiliser price volatility – which spiked sharply in 2022 following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine and has remained elevated – flows directly into the cost base of grain, horticulture and other agricultural producers who are, in turn, key suppliers to the food manufacturing sector.
What food manufacturers need to know
Businesses in fuel, fertiliser and critical supply chain sectors can access the ERP’s zero-interest loans when the program opens.
Manufacturers in hard-to-abate sectors looking to invest in energy efficiency or decarbonisation infrastructure should register interest with the Net Zero Fund.
All three programs operate under the NRF and applications will be managed through the National Reconstruction Fund Corporation (NRFC). Further details and updates are available via the NRF newsletter at nrf.gov.au/subscribe.
The announcement sits alongside the government’s broader food and manufacturing policy agenda, which has included the Feeding Australia national food security strategy launched in 2025 and the establishment of the inaugural National Food Council – both of which have positioned supply chain resilience as a central concern for the sector.
