Andrew Wallace (Fisher, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) the Government's record $200 billion investment in the Australian Defence Force (ADF) capabilities represents a unique opportunity for Australian businesses;

(b) many Australian businesses who first supplied defence materials to the Australian Government go on to export these products overseas; and

(c) Australia ranks thirteenth in the world for defence expenditure, but is only the twentieth largest exporter;

(2) congratulates the Government on its activities to date to encourage local small businesses to bid for Government defence contracts, including the 2016 Defence White Paper, and Integrated Investment Program, the Defence Industry Policy Statement and the Centre for Defence Industry Capability (CDIC);

(3) welcomes the Government's efforts to develop a Defence Export Strategy to plan, guide and measure defence export outcomes that will support our foreign and trade policies, defence industry, defence capability and national security objectives; and

(4) encourages small and medium enterprises all over Australia to explore the opportunity to supply products and services for the ADF, and to contact the CDIC to learn more.

It gives me great pleasure to move this motion as I'm a strong supporter of the government's $200 billion investment in defence, and the impact it will have on small- to medium-sized businesses across Australia. It's without doubt an exciting time to be involved with the defence industry in Australia. The government is investing record amounts of money into defence procurement in Australia and I'm working hard to position my own electorate of Fisher to take advantage of what is on the table.

The release of the defence white paper, the Integrated Investment Program and the Defence Industry Policy Statement last year marks a significant milestone in Australia's strategic policy approach. It identified that our defence industry is a core element of our defence strategy and capability, and it established a long-term plan to grow and support Australian industry to deliver defence capability. A significant investment is being made into the renewal of ADF capability. The Integrated Investment Program has outlined a $200 billion investment over the next ten years.

Building on this is the Defence Industry Policy Statement, which has been developed to maximise businesses in Australia that can get involved in the delivery of defence capability and sustain it long into the future. One such business in my own electorate of Fisher is Praesidium Global. This Caloundra based company designs and manufactures multipurpose unmanned ground vehicles that can assist soldiers on patrol with hauling heavy loads such as weapons, ammunition, packs and the like. They can also be used as armed assault vehicles and for casualty extraction in hazardous environments. Defence engagement with Praesidium Global came about following their attendance at the Army Innovation Day in Canberra nearly a year ago. The innovation day is held with the purpose of encouraging Australian companies to present novel capability options that could be attractive to Army's future development. Praesidium Global was eventually selected to conduct a trial with Defence at a value of $1.3 million. This exciting opportunity has put Praesidium Global on the defence map and has generated strong interest from many other multinational companies. Praesidium Global are now displaying their unmanned ground vehicle in London at an international military hardware exhibition, as I speak.

I must also commend the government on establishing the Centre for Defence Industry Capability, the CDIC, and Defence Innovation Hub. The CDIC recently presented at my inaugural Fisher defence forum and are working with me on another event next month. The CDIC has received $230 million to financial year 2025-26 so that it can develop and deliver tangible results for defence through greater industry engagement and the facilitation of innovation through the Defence Innovation Hub. It will be key in upskilling industry's global competitiveness and export readiness. It is specifically this focus on export readiness that excites me, as I see great potential for Australia to maximise its reach in this area. Australia ranks 13th in the world in defence expenditure and is the 12th largest exporter. Greater emphasis on this in the future will no doubt expand our capabilities in this space.

In my own electorate of Fisher, I have identified that opportunities in defence are one way we can grow and develop new industries on the coast. This will stimulate employment and prosperity, which will have long-term benefits for our growing community. As I mentioned earlier, I held the first Fisher defence industry forum in May of this year. We had over 170 representatives from small- to medium-sized businesses involved. We were fortunate to have the Minister for Defence Industry, the Hon. Christopher Pyne, attend as our guest speaker, and he certainly got the crowd excited about the future possibilities in defence. Following this very successful forum, I held a breakfast with retired Air Chief Marshal Sir Angus Houston. I am now planning a workshop even next month that will educate interested businesses on how they can navigate their way through the defence industry.

Our government should be commended for identifying that Australians have a role to play in the development and sustainability of the defence industry in our own country. By investing record amounts of money and establishing a range of programs aimed at assisting Australian businesses to work with defence, the government is demonstrating that it has confidence that we can deliver in all areas of defence capability.

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