Angie Bell (Moncrieff, Liberal National Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

Last Friday I had the pleasure of visiting one of many growing manufacturing businesses in my electorate. Ryan Aerospace has been in business for 15 years and is situated in Nerang. Chris Ryan and I announced his contractual win with the US Air Force in a competitive field to supply more than 300 helicopter and fighter jet flight simulators. Ryan Aerospace has already delivered 180 and continues its production line, using local talent and suppliers to deliver world-class production. Chris is currently on a plane to the US in the hope of securing another contract, which would mean more jobs for locals in Moncrieff. Chris is able to travel to the US because of the Morrison government's national plan to safely reopen Australia and keep Australia safely open, and I thank the Minister for Defence, Peter Dutton, for taking the time to congratulate Chris for the role he plays in our international alliances.

Aerospace and defence industry is a growing and emerging sector on the Gold Coast and part of the $7.2 billion manufacturing sector that employs over 22,000 locals. There are manufacturers of glass, steel plates, body armour, space rockets and now flight simulators. The federal government supported Ryan Aerospace with $260,000 to invest in 3D-printing technology, which is a key element of manufacturing these state-of-the-art simulators. I will just tell the House that at this stage I wouldn't make a very good US fighter pilot, because I had a go and crashed three times!