Page 17 - Australian Defence Magazine Nov 2018

The future of training rnages was a big talking point at the summit this year.
opened the event noting that there was a lot going on in Defence. Grzeskowiak listed Local Industry Capability Plans (LICPs), expanded training areas in Queensland, a growing investment program, and new information systems for improved service delivery and managing contamination as examples of the issues that are currently at the forefront of E&IG’s thinking. He also stressed the importance of maintaining an enduring partnership with industry.
“Defence does not do this alone. In fact, we could not,” he told delegates. “Industry are a key partner in the delivery of services that I’m accountable for across the Defence Estate. We need to keep working produc- tively together, we need to be embracing new ways of doing business and looking for innovative ideas in how we take our mutual business forward.”
Later in the morning session, First Assis- tant Secretary Infrastructure Division Chris Birrer provided insight into the current and
future posture of Infrastructure, noting that innovation will be a key part of what will be delivered over the coming years and he want- ed to be informed by industry’s best practices.
“There will continue to be change across the Defence Estate – what we do and also how we do it – and we want to be informed by your best practices, in terms of what you are doing in Australia and also internation- ally,” he told industry representatives. “We want to do things in a new way, and will need to innovate in order to meet the expec- tations of Government and also the Austra- lian community.
“We need to evolve, we need to be agile and we need the input of you in the room in order to do that.”
The afternoon session kicked off with a presentation from Brigadier Matt Galton, Director General Capital Facilities Infra- structure, who provided delegates with an insight into E&IG’s LICP process but warned that, while they were an opportu- nity for local businesses to bid for work, it is not guaranteed that they will be successful in every case.
“There’s always a natural tension between making sure we can come good with our promise of maximising opportunity for local businesses and working within the Commonwealth Procurement Rules – value for money is the key rule and we also can’t discriminate against a supplier based on their geography,” he said.
Finally, First Assistant Secretary for Ser- vice Delivery Alice Jones provided an over- view of contracting in a customer-centric service delivery environment, warning against complacency in long-term contracts.
“Are we taking the contract procedures for granted?” she asked. “Are we making as- sumptions about the way we could actually take advantage of our procurement rules to actually help Defence to get a better out- come in our large projects?”
The message from industry
The keynote address of the morning session was delivered by KPMG partner Brendan Lyon, who canvassed Defence infrastructure’s contribution to the national infrastructure sector, asking where the infrastructure mar- ket in Australia was currently sitting, what Defence was contributing to that position and what future trends will bring to the sector.
Lyon noted that Defence infrastructure is competing with a number of capital works programs, particularly major public transport projects, which are either planned or underway around the country.
“The context in which Defence infrastruc- ture is ramping up is a busy one, and one where we’re seeing ongoing growth, in terms of the competition (and) the battle for skills between what it is that the different tiers of Government are trying to do and what we are trying to do as a country,” he told delegates. “The national construction market is hot.”
Nick Miller, CEO of Broadspectrum, spoke of the need to work collaboratively to enhance the ‘prime directive’ of the De- fence Estate.
“Australian and NZ teams are collabo- rating to find solutions across Defence,” he said. “We’re also aligning with traditional land owners, combining science with tradi- tional land management practices.”
In other presentations, issues canvassed in- cluded the need to collect robust data to prop- erly assess ageing infrastructure, delivered by Liam Holloway, technical manager for Du- ratec, who used examples of where improper inspection techniques and the lack of data has resulted in major civil disasters like the recent collapse of the Morandi Bridge in Genoa.
Dr Andrew Maher, Aurecon’s Chief Digi- tal Officer, provided delegates with an over- view of the management of Big Data and how scalable technology has provided an op- portunity for the building of digital estates.
In the afternoon session a panel discussion, moderated by Clayton Utz partner Marko Misko, examined recent innovations in De- fence Infrastructure contracting and also cov- ered some of the problems faced by head con- tractors regarding cash flow arrangements in the tender process for major projects, which can result in significant periods where work is performed but no money is paid until the first contract milestone is reached.
Finally, the summit concluded on a seri- ous note with presentations regarding the management of the per- and poly-fluoroalkyl substances (PFAS) issue during construc- tion activities on Defence sites, delivered by Andrew Thomas, National PFAS technical manager for Enviropacific; and an overview of what the next steps will be, from Luke McLeod, Assistant Secretary PFAS Investi- gation & Management Branch (PFASIM).
“PFAS chemicals, introduced in the 1950s, are very effective at putting out fires,” Thomas noted. “However, they bio- accumulate. This isn’t just a Defence issue, it’s everywhere.”
McLeod noted that clear, concise and timely communication to the public was key in managing expectations along with finding better and cost effective technolo- gies in dealing with the substance.
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