John McVeigh (Groom, Liberal Party) Share this | Hansard source

I join with other members of the House in supporting this motion moved by the member for Herbert in relation to the importance of small business and its integral role in our defence industry right across the nation. Those of us from regional Australia, particularly, recognise the industry's potential for significant growth across regional Australia and applaud efforts to maximise the participation of Australian small business, in particular, in defence industry procurement and other activities as our defence plan is rolled out across the country. It's all about ensuring that we have a robust, resilient and of course internationally competitive Australian defence industry.

I'm thrilled that these efforts are underpinned by the government's 10-year Defence Industry Capability Plan that is rolling out across the country. In building a strong and sustainable Australian defence industry, the government recognises the need for local businesses, particularly small businesses, to have an opportunity to be involved in all aspects of defence activities across the nation. That means construction, project management, capital equipment acquisition and, most definitely, sustainment of such equipment. I'm thrilled that our tenders require that these projects demonstrate how they will maximise Australian industry capability and involvement in such projects over their lifetime.

Like so many others in this House, I celebrate the fact that I enjoy the company of defence bases in my electorate. Swartz Barracks at Oakey, in Groom electorate, is home to the Army Aviation Centre, which accommodates primarily Army pilot and aircrew training activities. Logistic support functions for the Black Hawk and Kiowa helicopters have been a big part of the history at Oakey as well. We also acknowledge the presence of a Republic of Singapore Air Force helicopter squadron. My wife, Anita, and I are very much looking forward to attending, this Friday night, the Rotary Wing Aircraft Maintenance School dine-in night at the Australian Army Flying Museum. We will talk about their activities, no doubt, and what they mean to the local Oakey community.

The case is the same for Borneo Barracks at Cabarlah, which has the Army's deployable electronic warfare unit and its electronic warfare operator training unit. It's just north of Toowoomba. Significant capital works continue at both these bases. Earlier last week I spent a day at the Army Aviation Centre at Oakey, as I mentioned, looking at significant airfield capital upgrades—pavement maintenance and aeronautical ground lighting. The Joint Health Command improvements will commence very soon for the new health centre at Oakey. And, of course, there is the Air Traffic Control Complex Infrastructure Project, which is being replicated across the country.

Our local business community recognises the potential for further engagement and further business development in and around the activities at both Oakey and Cabarlah. That's what the government's Defence Industrial Capability Plan is all about. I particularly acknowledge the efforts of one of our local chambers of commerce, the Highfields and District Business Connections group, which has led the charge. I acknowledge that they have a town centre, a greenfields development opportunity, that could certainly house jobs of the future. They predict, over the next 20 years, in collaboration with defence industry development, potentially some 20,000-plus jobs. That's in coordination with the Wellcamp Business Park, which houses our fantastic and international-capable airport. And, of course, there's the FKG Technology Park just west of Toowoomba, which includes Australia's first tier III Uptime-certified regional data centre. So we have the smarts and we can build the 21st-century jobs around this in our region.

USQ, the University of Southern Queensland, led in this respect by the Executive Director of the Queensland Institute for Advanced Engineering and Space Sciences, Peter Schubel, is also getting on board with defence industry development—in this case, research around fibre composites and other materials that can be used in defence equipment going forward. Interestingly, that will have a space industry application as well.

So we're seeing government working with the small-business sector, certainly with the education sector and, most particularly, with our community to realise defence industry development potential.

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