Ian Goodenough (Moore, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

In December last year I had the opportunity to visit the shipbuilding facilities of Austal Ltd, located at the Australian Marine Complex in Henderson, Western Australia. More recently, I received a briefing from Austal's Vice-President of Defence Davyd Thomas, Vice-President of Sales and Marketing Ben Marland, Market Development Manager Tim Speers and Government Relations Manager Gemma Whiting on the company's offshore patrol vessel and Future Frigate campaign to secure new business contracts in emerging markets. Austal is a global company which is listed on the Australian Stock Exchange and operates four major shipbuilding yards across the globe. The company has built every patrol boat commissioned by the Royal Australian Navy and the Australian Border Force since 1998, a total of 32 vessels. Austal is currently building between 10 and 15 per cent of the United States naval surface fleet. The company has a proven history of exporting, with 80 per cent of production destined for overseas buyers.

I am particularly interested in Austal because it has 48 suppliers based in my electorate of Moore, supporting local businesses, industry and employment opportunities. Through the supply chain, Austal's success is being shared with suppliers in our local area, creating business growth and local jobs. It is a great success story to have so many local enterprises based in my electorate supplying the world through Austal. One example is a local supplier, Flagship Enterprises Pty Ltd, based in Hillarys. Flagship is the painting and coating services contractor completing painting tasks, including the interior honeycomb panels and compression posts. It is a husband and wife owned and operated business which has successfully grown to include a second-site factory operating as part of the company. Austal continues to use Flagship Enterprises in its current operations and will have opportunities to expand its contracts if successful in partnering with the government for the offshore patrol vessel and frigate shipbuilding programs.

Austal is currently partnered with German design firm Fassmer for offshore patrol vessels. The AustalFassmer joint venture offers proven capability for the Royal Australian Navy. The venture has achieved recent success in a competitive tender, being selected by the German coastguard. The AustalFassmer offshore patrol venture will provide the Royal Australian Navy with the operational capacity required to ensure that critical maritime defence and border security requirements are supported. As Australia's proven export-capable naval shipbuilder Austal is a logical shipbuilder for the Commonwealth to partner with.

Scott Buchholz (Wright, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I give the call to the very fit looking member for Greenway.