Phillip Thompson (Herbert, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Defence Industry. Will the minister outline to the House how the Morrison government is keeping the wheels of our defence industry turning to support our economic recovery as we come out the other side of the COVID-19 pandemic?

Melissa Price (Durack, Liberal Party, Minister for Defence Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I thank the member for Herbert for his question. I want to thank him for his service to the nation and also acknowledge his passion for Australian defence industry, especially up in his neck of the woods, in Townsville. During the COVID-19 period, defence industry has not missed a beat. From the beginning of the crisis, we were determined that the show would go on. Indeed, that's what our government has been very focused on—making sure that we keep the wheels of defence industry turning—and that is exactly what we have done, with a particular focus on ensuring that small business in defence industry is not only surviving but also thriving. I have no doubt that the steps we've taken over the last three months have ensured that we've saved thousands of Australian jobs.

Together with the Department of Defence and CASG, we've done everything we can over the last three months to get those projects out the door to ensure that the men and women in service get the capability that they deserve. One such project, which I announced with the member for Herbert, was a $40 million project at the RAAF base in Townsville. The exciting element of this project is that 90 per cent of the work will go to local regional companies, creating some 400 local jobs. It's such a great example of the capability of regional Australia. Another good example of regional capability is Pentarch Industrial, which is based in Wangaratta. We recently announced a $15 million contract with them, for four years, for the supply of defence equipment. It's another good example of the capability of regional Australia and of supporting those regional jobs. It really is a good regional-Australia story.

Defence has continued to fast-track payments to defence industry. We've paid some 110,000 invoices since March—$9 billion in invoices has been paid, $7 billion of which has been paid early. As you can see, we've done everything we can to ensure that, when we get to the end of this crisis, defence industry is not weaker but, indeed, much stronger. This cash flow has been very welcomed by the big end of town and major contractors but, more importantly, those funds have flowed down to the small end of town. As I say, I have no doubt we've saved thousands of those jobs, particularly with those small businesses.

Since I last rose and spoke here, we've continued to speak on a weekly basis with all the industry CEOs, industry groups, defence advocates to ensure we know what their issues are and, one by one, we have been able to solve those problems. The feedback we're receiving from industry is incredibly powerful and very positive. They know that we've got their back and they understand that, so together by more communication, more collaboration, we're ensuring that we have a very strong defence industry and very, very strong defence manufacturing base here in Australia.