Marise Payne (NSW, Liberal Party, Minister for Defence) Share this | Hansard source

I can advise the Senate that the plan for the release of the defence industrial capability plan, which will include those priorities to which I referred in my previous response, is scheduled for government consideration and release in the first half of 2018. That framework, as I've said, is one part of the whole ecosystem of the Turnbull government's support for the Australian defence industry and indeed the broader industrial base. In fact, it's almost two weeks to the day that the Prime Minister and I launched the defence white paper and its accompanying defence industry policy statement here. And what we've seen every day since then is a significantly expanding engagement by Australian defence industry, grasping the opportunities that the government is offering them, because of our investment in defence capability over the next decade. For Senator Patrick's information, that release is scheduled for the first half of 2018.