Justine Keay (Braddon, Australian Labor Party) Share this | Hansard source

I move:

That this House:

(1) acknowledges that Tasmania has the defence knowledge, capabilities and capacities to participate in the defence industries sector;

(2) notes that:

(a) the University of Tasmania, through its world leading marine research, engineering and training facility the Australian Maritime College (AMC), is the acknowledged Australian leader in maritime education in both technical skills and research;

(b) the AMC has developed a range of Autonomous Underwater Vehicles (AUV) which are suited for defence purposes and provide the opportunity for:

(i) increased consolidation of research and innovation at the University of Tasmania Inveresk site;

(ii) the redevelopment of the University of Tasmania, AMC Newnham site; and

(iii) associated local advanced manufacturing, particularly in North and North West Tasmania;

(c) the state-of-the-art AUV's enable a broad range of scientific, industry and defence related projects by facilitating exploration and data collection in remote and inhospitable locations;

(d) the AMC has the capability to lead or play a key role in any necessary training associated with significant defence projects, such as the Future Submarines Program;

(e) in addition to the defence opportunity that the AUV's represent, Tasmania already has a number of industries with the capability to participate in defence related industries supporting for example combat reconnaissance vehicles, shield and antenna protection and marine survival;

(f) defence industry opportunities for Tasmania will deliver a range of significant social and economic benefits across the state including a growth in industry research and increased employment through advanced manufacturing; and

(g) there is unequivocal and mutual support from both the Labor and Liberal parties at a state and federal level for Tasmania as a key centre for defence research, development and industry; and

(3) calls on the:

(a) Department of Defence to continue to work with industry with the goal of ensuring Tasmania is as integrated as possible in Australia's defence capability, including defence research, associated education, training and manufacturing; and

(b) Government to continue working collaboratively with the Tasmanian Government so Tasmania can play its role in the defence research and manufacturing industries sector.

I have to note there are no government speakers for this motion, and that would be because there are not any coalition members representing the state of Tasmania in the House, which is understandable. But I know I am adequately backed up by my Labor colleagues for Tasmania in the member for Bass and the member for Lyons, and I thank them for their contributions.

This motion I put forward today is exactly the same motion that went through the Senate some weeks ago, which came out of a bipartisan arrangement with the coalition. In turn, that arrangement came out of a meeting the Tasmanian MPs and senators had with the University of Tasmania and the Australian Maritime College, to look at Tasmania's defence capabilities and how we can promote those better.

I have to thank Labor's Senator Carol Brown, who worked very closely with the Liberal Senate members, and probably more so with Senator Duniam and Senator Bushby, whom I would like to thank for their contribution to this motion. This motion went through the Senate with bipartisan support. I think that is really important when we are talking about something so important for the state of Tasmania. This is something that, if Defence looked at investing more money in defence materiel in Tasmania, would create a lot of jobs and grow the Tasmanian economy. It was quite pleasing that that motion received bipartisan support from the Liberal Party and the Labor Party. This motion has also received support from the Minister for Defence Materiel and the shadow minister for defence, so it is clearly a very bipartisan motion, which is fantastic for our state.

When we had this meeting with the AMC and the university, there was a genuine view that we needed to promote Tasmania's manufacturing industries and research capabilities for Tasmania to participate in the defence sector. My colleague the member for Bass will speak more about the Australian Maritime College, but I want to use my time to talk about what has been done previously by Labor, and then speak about my electorate.

In southern Tasmania, there exist a large number of industries with defence capability, predominantly in and around Prince of Wales Bay on the Derwent River. These include Incat, who sold catamarans to the United States navy; Taylor Bros, who are specialists in marine accommodation and who have been awarded a contract for the supply and installation of these products for the new air warfare destroyers; specialist antenna suppliers Moonraker Australia, who have been awarded a contract for these new vessels; and Liferaft Systems Australia, who design and manufacture marine evacuation systems and life rafts. I would like to congratulate Senator Carol Brown and the former Labor candidate for Denison, Jane Austin, who had previously secured a commitment from this side of the House for Prince of Wales Bay to be declared a defence precinct.

In my electorate in the north-west of Tasmania, we are very fortunate to have a number of manufacturers and fabricators who have the capability to participate in the defence industry. This was evidenced through the Department of Defence Land 400 bid with local manufacturer Elphinstone Group, who partnered with Elbit Systems to construct new combat reconnaissance vehicles. The Team Sentinel bid, as it was known, brought together local, interstate and overseas expertise. Team Sentinel also signed on with Deakin University to develop a mobile target system for its Land 400 vehicle, which further demonstrates the collaboration that can take place between tertiary institutions and local manufacturers. While the Team Sentinel bid was not down-selected to the next stage, it did demonstrate the capability that does exist in Tasmania.

In April, I was pleased to host a visit to my electorate by the shadow minister for defence. The shadow minister reaffirmed Labor's support for Tasmania playing a role in Australia's defence capability, and he was able to inspect three local manufacturers. The first one was Elphinstone. As mentioned, Elphinstone was a partner in the Team Sentinel bid. It is an industry leader in the design, manufacture and support of quality equipment for the global underground, surface mining and rail maintenance industries. Elphinstone also enjoys a close relationship with UTAS and the AMC. Last year, employers from Elphinstone were upskilled in a project delivered by Productivity Improvers, with the AMC being the registered training organisation. Elphinstone has been the driving force behind the establishment of a simulated work environment, or SWE, that is located at the Tasmanian Manufacturing Centre of Excellence in Burnie.

The second place we visited was Penguin Composites, which has separate facilities for recreational vehicle assembly, metal workshops and fibreglassing. Some of the projects that have been completed by Penguin Composites include building igloos for Antarctica, and, more recently, working with AMSA on the construction of lighthouses. Direct Edge in Burnie produces computerised sheet metal for manufacturing product, which is sold directly and indirectly throughout the world. So we certainly have the capability in Tasmania. I am pleased that this has received bipartisan support in the Senate, and I thank those speakers who will be speaking on this today.

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