Developing novel synthetic microbes for the sustainable production of biochemical, biofuels and bioplastics is critical for the emergence of a new global bioeconomy. I am the Director of the new $50 million ARC Centre of Excellence in Synthetic Biology, a consortium across nine Australian universities and twenty industry partners, that seeks to build synthetic microbes that can convert agricultural biomass or waste streams into high-value chemicals. At Macquarie University, our synthetic biology voyage started with building two synthetic chromosomes as part of the Yeast 2.0 consortium, and has expanded to building new designer chromosomes, yeast morphological engineering, building synthetic symbioses and synthetic microbial communities, and re-engineering yeast to grow on waste streams.