Waste of taxpayer money or brilliant idea?
The government has awarded $360,000 in grant money to help a Melbourne engineering firm create the first travel coffee cup.
Palm Products, a plastics and fibreglass company, will take on the task and say their design will change the way people drink coffee on the go. Entitled the Marc Newson coffee travel cup and child cup, the firm will also employ the skills of world renowned Greek Australian designer, Marc Newson. Already the designer has lent his designs to Qantas’ in flight coffee cups.
Palm Products has defended the large sum given to them by saying their design will have worldwide applications and will include features never seen before in coffee cup design.
The grant is part of the Australian and Victorian governments’ $30 million Automotive New Markets Program (ANMP) that has funded projects like new automotive breaking components and LED flood lamps.
Palm Products director, Robert Wilson says the company received the exact sum they had asked from the government but admits the grant will only cover half the cup’s cost.
Centre for Independent Studies policy analyst Alexander Philipatos told the Herald Sun government should not be funding the cup, saying the project should be privately funded.
“The coffee cup example is the most obvious example of waste,” he said about the ANMP.
The project will take two years.
Source: Herald Sun