Trevor Evans (Brisbane, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

I would like to record my support and enthusiasm for the recent announcement on the LAND 400 Army contract. It's a multibillion dollar project to build around 650 state-of-the-art defence vehicles. It will be the biggest and most expensive acquisition project in the Army's history.

One of the two companies vying for the tender, Rheinmetall Defence, has announced it will base its operations in Queensland, should it win the contract. What that would mean for Queensland is billions of dollars of work, new high-skilled manufacturing jobs and all of the flow-on benefits for local businesses who would service the manufacturing process or support all those new workers.

This announcement has demonstrated the effectiveness of having the full force of Queensland's LNP MPs and senators—all 26 of us—working together in Canberra to achieve results for Queensland. We've been working hard on this together; engaging with the tenderers and with the state government, and in advocating for Queensland with the Prime Minister and the Minister for Defence Industry.

We feel that Queensland is a natural fit for this project. The ultimate customers, the biggest Army bases in Australia, are in Queensland. Enoggera Barracks, for instance, is on the edge of my electorate and the electorate of the member for Ryan. We have hundreds of businesses already in Queensland which are servicing the defence industry and which will be integral to the supply chain for building these vehicles.

I support Rheinmetall's announcement for Queensland, and we eagerly await the federal government's decision on the project.