Vince Connelly (Stirling, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) notes that:

(a) the Government's $270 billion investment in Australia's defence capability is creating thousands of jobs and opportunities for small businesses across Australia, particularly in the state of Western Australia;

(b) it is only because of the Government's continued investment that we are able to guarantee that the men and women of the Australian Defence Force receive the defence capabilities they need to keep Australians safe; and

(c) a key pillar of our economic recovery plan to get Australians in jobs is getting more Australian businesses in our defence industry to deliver the essential capability our Defence Force relies on; and

(2) recognises that because of the support measures the Government has introduced to help Australian defence:

(a) businesses remain in business and are recovering from COVID-19; and

(b) our defence industry is not only recovering, but thriving as we come back from the COVID-19 recession.

I have moved this motion because it is the Morrison government's first and most important job to keep Australians safe, and we are resolutely committed to that aim. We're building an even stronger defence industry by investing $270 billion in Australia's defence capability over the next 10 years. This will help keep our nation secure, create more local jobs and back in small businesses. Our support to the defence industry has kept it strong, importantly, through COVID-19. Since 23 March last year, our government has paid more than 391,000 invoices early, ahead of time, to defence industry participants, and this cash in the hands of businesses early has helped keep Aussies employed and keep the cogs of this vital industry turning.

The vital work of our Defence Force can only succeed with the help of those thousands of Australian workers and businesses. Why? Because small businesses are the backbone of our entire economy, and they are the key to local jobs. That's why our approach includes a new enhanced contractual framework for Australian industry capability, guaranteeing opportunities for Australian enterprises.

I recently had the honour of representing the Minister for Defence, Peter Dutton, at the handover of a brand-new Guardian class patrol boat, the RSIPV Taro, to Solomon Islands. This was at the Austal shipyards in Henderson. It was a personally rewarding moment for me, because, back in 2003, when I was still in uniform, I was the second in command of the first infantry company that went into Solomon Islands, along with Australian Federal Police, to help restore law and order. So it was a very privileged opportunity to represent the Minister for Defence at the handover of that second Guardian class patrol vessel to the Solomon Islands High Commissioner to Australia. During a tour of the vessel and the facilities, I saw again out there firsthand the amazing spirit, the ingenuity, the craftsmanship and the quality that's going into these ships. I commend Austal for their fantastic work.

Just down the road at Civmec, along with their partner, Luerssen, people are also hard at work building the first of 10 Arafura class offshore patrol vessels, OPVs. Meanwhile, another two vessels are under construction at Osborne in South Australia. The Luerssen and Civmec teams in WA are making significant progress on the building blocks that, when complete, will form a 1,600-tonne, 80-metre long OPV, made exclusively with Australian steel. This project alone has created about 400 local jobs and engaged 300 local businesses, and it's on track to achieve more than 60 per cent local industry content. The Morrison government want to see more success stories like these, and that's why we're increasing the funding via defence industry grants. Over the next two years, Skilling Australia's Defence Industry grants will quadruple, from $4 million to $17 million per year. This will allow us to both broaden and deepen the skills of Australian workers.

Our government is getting on with the job. On top of the 10 OPVs, a key part of our plan is to build 21 Guardian class patrol boats, two Minehunter support vessels, one hydrographic vessel and six patrol boats, all in WA, using Australian workers and Australian steel. In stark comparison, Labor, in their last term of government, did not commission one Australian built ship. They failed to place a single order at an Australian naval shipyard in six years.

But this is only the start of our plan. We want to see our defence industry continue to thrive. We're living in a region, and indeed a world, in which significant security challenges persist. It remains our solemn responsibility to ensure that we can meet our strategic capability objectives and to shape, deter and respond, in line with our strategic update. It's not enough just to talk about the defence of our nation; we need to back it up. And that's exactly what we're doing through our clear plan. The Morrison government is investing in our defence industry, in local businesses and in the jobs this creates, because this is how we are keeping Australians safe.

Julie Owens (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Is the motion seconded?

Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I second the motion and reserve my right to speak.

Julie Owens (Parramatta, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I call the member for Burt.

A government member: Hear, hear!

Matt Keogh (Burt, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Minister for Defence Industry) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Thank you for the support from the other side of the chamber. Our Australian defence industry has so much potential. Our nation is full of innovators and wonderful minds. So why don't we back our Aussie businesses? The member for Stirling's motion acknowledges that thousands of jobs and opportunities are being created for small businesses across Australia, particularly in the home state of both of us, Western Australia. I wouldn't go to the extent of saying this is untrue, but we must look at what these jobs actually are.

You see, this Liberal government has previously identified job opportunities from defence spending as including language classes, security guards, hotels and travel agents. These are all worthwhile occupations in their own right, but they're hardly shipbuilding. They're hardly developing capability when it comes to planes or submarines. We have shipbuilders bashing metal at home in WA and in the shipyards of South Australia. This is an important role in shipbuilding, but it's not something that's going to result in building our sovereign capability or owning our own IP. Bending and bashing metal is very important, but we need Aussie businesses and workers involved from the get-go, in the design phase.

There are companies in Australia who integrate well with local small businesses: businesses like NSM, Naval Ship Management, who are based in WA and New South Wales and are responsible for the maintenance on our LHDs and Anzac frigates. They coordinate a huge variety of local SMEs to be involved in their work sustaining those ships. I was fortunate enough to visit them recently and see the work they were doing on HMAS Adelaide. There were local scaffolders, diesel engine repairers and painters all working alongside Defence personnel on the ship and all undertaking important roles in every facet of the ship. Indeed, due to the COVID restrictions, they're even trying to do work that we previously had to import experts from Europe to do. We must encourage more primes like NSM here in Australia to undertake similar identification work, finding local businesses to do important roles rather than just going offshore.

Luerssen are building the OPVs in Adelaide and Perth and have a specific focus on enabling local businesses to work with them on these platforms. If SMEs don't have a niche skill or capability but are interesting in getting there, Luerssen take it upon themselves to identify and foster their talents, picking up the bill to make sure that it happens. This is excellent work by Luerssen, and it's exactly what primes should be doing while undertaking defence work in Australia and for our ADF. In fact, it's written into most of the contracts. However, these are rarely enforced by the Department of Defence, who settle for 'best intentions' to use Australian businesses rather than actually making sure that it happens in practice. Companies like Luerssen prove that you can identify gaps in the workforce and build these capabilities here in Australia. This is precisely what the Department of Defence's specialist team, CASG, and the AIC team within it should be doing, but they're not.

We must look at the gaps in our Australian industry, the things that international primes say they can't identify to be at the required level here in Australia, and we must foster those businesses. It doesn't appear that the Liberal government has a solid plan to do this, but Labor does. Through the National Reconstruction Fund and through Jobs and Skills Australia, we will be able to identify the gaps in our Aussie workforce, the industries we need to be fostering here at home. Through the Reconstruction Fund, we will have the opportunity to financially support the development of these businesses in our sovereign interest. This could be through loans or even joint investment—indeed, leveraging superannuation and other private investment—to support and build these businesses for our sovereign capability. Particularly in Western Australia, our thriving resources industry, the best in the world, requires very similar skills and technology to that of defence industry. They are complementary. We must be supporting these sectors on how they can work better together. Labor has a plan to support Australian businesses. Labor has a plan to identify capability gaps and fix them in our sovereign interest. Meanwhile, the Liberal government has glossy brochures and announcements.

So I agree with the member for Stirling: we need to be getting more Australian businesses in our defence industry to deliver the essential capability that our defence forces rely on. As the Liberal government continues to bang the drums of war, we must ensure that our platforms are actually ready. We must make sure there are no capability gaps. We can't afford for our personnel to be working with anything less than the best, because they deserve the best, and it's time for the government to catch up.

Melissa McIntosh (Lindsay, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I'd like to thank my colleague the member for Stirling for bringing this important motion to parliament, because the defence of our nation is of critical importance. That's why we're investing $270 billion in Australia's defence capability over the next decade, building a stronger, more resilient and more secure Australia. This is an investment to keep Australians safe and, in the process, to create more jobs. Our investment in our national defence industry ensures members of the Australian Defence Force have access to the highest quality Australian made capability to keep them safe and to protect our nation. The Morrison government will continue to maximise opportunities for our local businesses to contribute to the defence industry.

In my electorate of Lindsay we have extraordinary potential to build on manufacturing expertise, experience and enthusiasm. Recently, with the Minister for Employment, Workforce, Skills, Small and Family Business, I convened a meeting of my Advancing Manufacturing Taskforce. Every facet of this enthusiasm was apparent at this meeting. We met at a family business, Baker & Provan, in St Marys to discuss building our workforce and equipping it with the skills we need to enable our businesses to grow, employ and support more local jobs.

From universities to manufacturers, innovators, entrepreneurs and experts right across many industries, we're bringing together the pieces of the puzzle, all united on a single purpose. There is a great, razor-sharp focus on growing our manufacturing industry, particularly advanced manufacturing. At the forefront of this is our defence industry. We recognise the potential in Western Sydney. That's why we're delivering unprecedented levels of investment in infrastructure that our communities need. If you need any indication of the private sector's commitment to manufacturing in Western Sydney, look no further than Visy's commitment in Penrith earlier this year, with the Prime Minister and me, of $2 billion to their Australian operations.

As a former member of the Australian Defence Force himself, the minister for employment also recognises the importance of investing in our nation's sovereign capability. This task force meeting at Baker & Provan, who contribute to some of our most significant defence projects, such as the Collins class submarines, was an appropriate demonstration of our commitment not only to Australian manufacturing but to our national defence industry. Our policies are enabling businesses like Baker & Provan to do what they do best, and our wage subsidies are helping our manufacturers to take on more apprentices. The extension of the instant asset write-off, available to over 15,000 businesses in my electorate of Lindsay, is supporting businesses to buy the equipment they need to grow and expand.

All of this, and more, not only creates and sustains more local jobs but is contributing to the building of a more resilient and secure Australia. In building a strong and sustainable Australian defence industry, the Morrison government recognises the need for Australian businesses to have the opportunity to be involved in all aspects, including design, construction, project management and sustainment activities. That's why our government mandated that tenders must demonstrate how they will maximise Australian industry capability over the life of a project, and each tender must meet the Australian content requirement.

The Australian defence industry is also growing by taking up opportunities in global supply chains for new capability like the Joint Strike Fighter program. Currently, over 50 Australian companies are involved in the JSF program, sharing $2.7 billion in production contracts. These are opportunities for local businesses to play a bigger role in the defence industry. I also recently visited the defence establishment in Orchard Hills in my electorate, where we're investing in the Nulka missile assembly and maintenance facilities. This decoy missile has one of the world's most sophisticated electronic defence systems for the protection of warships against antiship missiles. This is happening right in my electorate of Lindsay. Around 200 people will be employed over the course of construction, with a commitment from the company ensuring 95 per cent of local industry participation for the supply of goods and services for the project.

This is what we are doing. This is what we're committed to. We are building innovation in Australia right in our local communities. I couldn't be prouder that I've got local businesses like Baker & Provan involved and that this is also happening at the local defence establishment in Orchard Hills. It will shape our strategic environment and deepen our connection to our defence industry. (Time expired)

Meryl Swanson (Paterson, Australian Labor Party, Shadow Assistant Minister for Defence) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

It's with a sense of optimism that I rise in this place today to support Australia's small and medium business enterprises that have ambitious plans to break into the defence industry. This optimism, however, is tempered by concern that this government's rhetoric around securing Australian content for future defence contracts is just that. Really, it is all talk with no action. The SMEs I meet with talk about the cost and difficulty of becoming defence ready, and for some businesses this is prohibitive without a good prospect of securing any return whatsoever. Defence procurement could have uncapped potential to generate Australian jobs, but we have to take the cap off and allow these businesses to truly be defence ready, to get involved in our nation's security, in our very sovereignty.

In my electorate of Paterson and here in Canberra, I meet with many SMEs each week who talk to me about the amazing work they are doing—and some of these people are thought leaders across the globe. They're hoping to land a defence contract, but it's not purely for financial gain. These businesses genuinely believe their product or service will improve the life and safety of the men and women who will operate them in the Defence Force and in the defence of Australia. And I've got no doubt that this is true. It's truly a noble act. I recently met with a small operation in Medowie who have developed a secure system that could revolutionise the way organisations talk to each other internally and also in the battle space realm.

With cybersecurity at the forefront of the challenges currently facing not only our nation but other nations we see across the world, Defence needs to consider all of the options, not just those offered up by traditional partnerships. With the government set to invest a record amount in defence, it has a once-in-a-generation opportunity not only to support Australian industry but to secure sovereignty over major investment projects. We know that this is one of the pivotal aspects of any investment in Australia—never more so than right now in defence. We need to have Australian minds and Australian ingenuity right from the idea phase through to the delivery phase.

Earlier this year I had the pleasure of visiting the grand opening of Murray Consulting Solutions, a local success story in my electorate. MCS, as it's known, is a thriving consultancy company with headquarters in Medowie, adjacent to RAAF Base Williamtown. Founded by owner and managing director Jason Murray in 2011, they are a fantastic story, with operations now spanning Medowie, Newcastle, Sydney and Canberra. MCS have more than 40 employees, with steady growth providing services to defence across project management, engineering logistics, tests and evaluation, maintenance management and many services. The thing I took away from my meeting with Jason and his incredible team at MCS is their passion for making outstanding decisions and products. And they do it differently for their employees, their employees' families, their clients, our community and, most importantly, our Defence Force. They are thinking differently about the way we defend Australia and how defence in Australia works.

One of the key elements of Labor's national reconstruction fund is just that. We want to develop our own sovereignty and think differently about it. Labor is going to work with industry, like Jason at MCS, to ensure that defence industry development strategy ensures that we not only think at the cutting edge but we deliver at the cutting edge with Australian industries, Australian jobs and Australian apprenticeships. I'd like to remind those present in the chamber that this government talks up apprenticeships but we've lost 150,000 apprentices while they have been in government over the last eight years. Imagine how far down the track we could have been if we had kept those and got more apprentices, especially in the defence space. Defence procurement processes need to be more agile, consider more easily Australian industry and get the contracting right to make sure defence delivers for all. Defence procurement processes need to be more agile. We need to more easily consider Australian industry and we need to get the contracting right too, to make sure Defence delivers for all. (Time expired)

Ross Vasta (Bonner, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I rise today to speak about the Morrison government's $270 billion investment in Australia's defence capability. Not only do I support this investment; I applaud it. We are living in increasingly uncertain times, both at home and abroad. Australia must always prioritise its own interests, and that's exactly what the Morrison government is doing. We are ensuring that the men and women of the Australian Defence Force have the capability they need to keep Australians safe and secure. Currently, 15,000 business and 70,000 Australians are employed in our defence industry. These numbers will increase thanks to our $270 billion plan. It will create new jobs for skilled workers and provide investment in our local communities over the coming decade and beyond. It is more important than ever that we keep Australians in work.

Queensland is heading towards being Australia's front line for defence industry, and that's thanks to the Morrison government's ongoing commitment to Australia's defence capability. Our government is investing in growing Queensland's defence capability, supporting Queensland small businesses and enabling thousands of jobs. North Queensland has an established defence industry. This is the patch of the member for Herbert, Phil Thompson. It is the gold standard, an example of what can be achieved. Townsville has a long and proud role at the core of our nation's defence. It is Australia's largest garrison city. Our plan will help strengthen Townsville's defence strategy over the decades to come. We are committing $31 million to the delivery of a new, three-storey armoured vehicle simulation centre in Townsville. This equates to 110 local jobs—jobs that are crucial to keeping Australians safe. As part of this plan, Queensland will welcome the first of a fleet of new combat reconnaissance vehicles. The plan will enable the delivery of 211 Boxer CRVs, creating 330 local jobs in Queensland.

Our plan benefits both the state of Queensland and my electorate of Bonner. Bonner is home to successful defence contracts critical to building up our local industry. In 2019, Skyborne Technologies, based in Murarrie, were awarded a $460,000 grant by the Morrison government to enhance manufacturing capability and further research into artificial intelligence. They are making their mark on Australia's defence industry through the development of armoured drones. Bonner is also home to the Tingalpa based defence manufacturer Ferra Engineering, which, late in 2020, was awarded a defence global competitiveness grant of $127,000 to enhance export manufacturing capability. Ferra Engineering is one of Australia's largest independently owned technology companies serving the aerospace and defence industries. The Morrison government is creating the environment for Australian businesses to thrive. I recently visited Crystalaid's headquarters in Tingalpa, also in my electorate. Crystalaid are undertaking incredible work that specialises in defence, medical and aerospace industries. I was excited to congratulate them on being one of six Australian small businesses to be awarded a $207,000 grant from the Morrison government to boost their export potential. Bonner is going from strength to strength when it comes to defence.

Small business is the backbone of our economy, and small businesses are front and centre in our defence capability and infrastructure. Next week, Land Forces, which is the region's premier international land defence exposition, will take place in Queensland. It will showcase equipment, technology and services for the armies of Australia and the Indo-Asia-Pacific. Under the Morrison government, Queensland has an exciting and young defence industry base. For this event to go ahead, it's clear that there is confidence in the Queensland defence industry.

The Morrison government is getting on with the job of delivering for defence and our defence industry. Compare this with the previous Labor government, which sat idle for six years. Labor gutted $18 billion from the defence budget. Labor did not commission even one single Australian-built ship, whereas the Morrison government is creating at least 15,000 jobs in Australian defence shipbuilding. It's not enough just to talk about the defence of our nation; you need a plan. You need to execute and invest in that plan, and that is how the Morrison government is building the strongest defence industry the country has ever seen.

Debate interrupted.

Sitting suspended from 13:30 to 16:00