Vince Connelly (Stirling, Liberal Party) Share this | Link to this | Hansard source

The Morrison government's investment in defence industry is paying dividends right around the country, including in my own electorate of Stirling. Last week, I was joined by the Minister for Defence Industry, Melissa Price, on a tour of Orbital UAV, which is in Balcatta, in my electorate. Orbital UAV is a world leader in the design, development and manufacture of propulsion systems and flight-critical components of military drones, also known as unmanned aerial vehicles, or UAVs. These are used for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance.

UAV export market demand is soaring, and Orbital is capitalising on this demand through contracts with defence primes like Boeing and Textron, the latter being a large supplier of drones to the United States. In March, Orbital received a $223,000 grant under the Defence Global Competitiveness Grant program, which is boosting quality control and production. Orbital has 70 employees in Australia and three in the United States, and this support will enable them to expand even further.

Through the Morrison government's 2020 Defence strategic update and 2020 Force structure plan, we're committing $700 million towards UAVs. This investment in businesses like Orbital will ensure we have the sovereign defence industry capability that we need in Australia to meet the challenges of an uncertain world.