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

Last week I held the latest in my series of Fisher Defence Industry Initiative events, a roundtable meeting with Air Chief Marshal Sir Angus Houston, AK, AFC, retired—try saying that too quickly! It was at the terrific Landmark Resort in Mooloolaba. Sir Angus spoke to a number of the businesses in my electorate who are taking the lead in our burgeoning local defence industry. He has an incredible depth and breadth of knowledge in this sector, and he was very generous in sharing his time with us. I am very grateful to him for giving us the benefit of his expertise.

One of the most striking insights which I took away from last week's meeting was just how far the sector in my community has come since my first Fisher Defence Industry Initiative forum in 2017. Thanks to some incredible hard work from entrepreneurs and academics on the Sunshine Coast, with the support of the coalition government's $200 billion defence industry capability investment, today our region is fast becoming a true defence industry hub.

At the meeting we had representatives of the University of the Sunshine Coast. The university began its work in defence modestly, with a contract for research on runway materials for the ADF. Today the university has a designated representative for developing its defence engagement, Dr Adrian McCallum, and has recently begun an exciting new defence collaboration with DTMC Ltd. USC is also now working with the Department of Defense in the United States on the prevalence of melanoma in the US Army. Professor Michael Kimlin, who is undertaking this research, spoke passionately about the need to conduct a similar study for ADF personnel in Australia, and I believe this is very worthy of consideration. Finally, USC's Thompson Institute will soon be opening its post-traumatic stress disorder clinic, partnering with institutes in the UK and US who are already achieving 85 per cent remission rates. I've no doubt that this centre will fast become Australia's leading treatment facility for current and former members of the ADF suffering from this debilitating condition.

We also heard from David Baird of Praesidium Global. David's business is young but it has developed a unique unmanned ground vehicle which is already beginning to catch the eye of defence forces all over the world. Over the last three years, David has taken his business from its first exploratory contract with the ADF to a position as one of the world's up-and-coming innovators in this field. Not only are Praesidium now working with the ADF to develop Australia's approach to unmanned ground vehicles; they are well advanced in negotiations with defence forces in Europe, the Middle East and the Pacific to trial their products. Praesidium are even beginning to take their technology into civilian environments, creating potentially huge new markets which would bring a significant economic boost to our region and, of course, to Praesidium Global.

We heard from Don Pulver of Eniquest. Eniquest were our region's pioneers in defence, working on contracts for the military at home and overseas long before the Fisher defence industry initiative began. As they have for more than 10 years, Eniquest continue to quietly supply reliable, compact and lightweight electrical generators to the ADF for their Bushmaster vehicles as well as portable generators for a host of other military applications. Eniquest work for export partners all over the world, including the military of Singapore, and Don is already setting up to expand his work at home and overseas. Thanks for all your support, Don; you're a legend.

Finally, we heard from Will Shrapnel of HeliMods in Caloundra. Mr Deputy Speaker, if you want to keep up with everything HeliMods are doing, you can't take your eye off them for even a day. In the weeks since I announced $150,000 in Morrison government funding for a new vertical machining centre for the company, they have already had to move the machine into a new extension to their Caloundra aerodrome facility. In just three years, thanks to more than a million dollars in federal government funding and Will's truly tireless work, HeliMods have gone from their first defence contract to engaging with primes all over the world and working to improve the way the ADF look at their entire helicopter capability.

The defence industry in Fisher is going from strength to strength. It is already creating dozens of jobs for the future for locals in high-tech manufacturing and engineering. I commend our region's entrepreneurs for all their hard work. However, without this coalition government's dedication to a robust, resilient and internationally competitive Australian defence industry, none of this would have been possible. I congratulate the government on its foresight.

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