Tony Pasin (Barker, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

My question is to the Minister for Defence Industry. Will the minister please outline to the House how the Morrison government's record investment in defence industry is backing regional Australia by creating local business and employment opportunities?

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

I thank the member for Barker for his question and I thank him for his interest and passion in the defence industries in Australia. He knows as well as everyone on this side does just how important defence industry is to regional South Australia and, more importantly, to regional Australia. The Morrison government is investing an historic $270 billion in our defence capability. As a proud regional Western Australian, I'm particularly proud of our investment and spend in regional areas of Australia. That is backing regional jobs and backing those regional businesses.

Recently the Prime Minister and I announced that we will invest $1 billion in a boost to defence industry as a result of the COVID recovery package. This package will support around 4,000 Australian jobs right across Australia. As part of that package we're investing $300 million in our national estate's work program. That will focus on regional areas but, particularly, those bushfire affected regions, like Jervis Bay and Eden, and also places like RAAF Base East Sale.

This means that those local tradies in the region, many of whom would have been doing it tough as a result of the bushfires, can have a job or, indeed, if it is their own business they can grow their business. In essence, it actually gets them back on their feet, so we're very proud of that investment. In the member for Capricornia's electorate we're expanding the Shoalwater Bay Training Area in Central Queensland, with some 44 companies already having received a total of $93 million worth of contracts for the design and construct of the Shoalwater Bay Training Area. In addition to that, we have some 27 subcontractor packages ready to go. They're planned to be released to industry over the next six months, which, of course, is going to create even more opportunities in regional Queensland. And in more good news for Queensland, we're also going to create a new training area for our ADF near Greenvale in Northern Queensland, with a managing contractor announced recently.

Since April our government has paid over $451 million to Australian SMEs which support our defence bases, including many SMEs in regional Australia, with almost $50 million being paid to Aussie SMEs in the Top End, in the Northern Territory, to support our bases. This $50 million has been providing support to 116 separate SMEs, so it is supporting those individual businesses and creating jobs.

I would like to take this opportunity to thank those almost 1,400 Aussie businesses that are engaged to support our bases right across our country, which are supporting some 7,000 jobs. Please know that we appreciate your important contribution to our defence capabilities.