Page 22 - Australian Defence Magazine Sep-Oct 2022

22 DEFENCE BUSINESS TOWNSVILLE
SEPTEMBER-OCTOBER 2022 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
FIRST TOWNSVILLE
DEFENCE FORUM
LAUNCHES
The inaugural ADM Townsville Defence Forum took place in late July, bringing just over 100 delegates from Defence and industry (both from Townsville and from around Queensland) together at the Ville Resort, on the lands of the Wulgurukaba people.
EWEN LEVICK | TOWNSVILLE
DELEGATES were welcomed to Country by Wulgurukaba tra- ditional owner Uncle Brenton Creed.
The purpose of the Forum – the first in a planned se- ries of similar forums around Australia and New Zealand – is to provide a platform for Defence and industry in the Townsville area to connect and discuss issues of local and regional importance.
LTCOL Carney Elias, Commanding Officer Joint Lo- gistic Unit – North Queensland (JLU-NQ), delivered the opening keynote: an overview of JLU-NQ, including the unit’s role across the north, its financial scope and capabil- ity to engage with local businesses, and the unit’s view on the importance of a vibrant local defence industry.
“JLU-NQ has logistics responsibility for all of north Queensland,” LTCOL Elias said. “We are undoubtedly the ADF unit with the most significant connec-
tion to industry here in Townsville.”
LTCOL Elias noted that service delivery
is provided through major national contracts executed in the Townsville region: Defence Maintenance Support Services through Ven-
tia, which will conclude in mid 2023, to be re-
placed with a Defence Maintenance Contract
(which is in the process of being tendered); and warehousing and distribution through Linfox,
with 26 Linfox personnel in Townsville and 34,000 local line items (a contract that runs to 2024).
Additionally, the unit engages up to 80 local organisa- tions across north Queensland for trade support (to a value of $8.25 million per year).
“JLU-NQ conduct maintenance both in-house and through a local trade repair network,” LTCOL Elias added. “JLU-NQ coordinates the majority of maintenance work conducted by local industry across the north Queensland region. This includes the use of regional providers to recover damaged or broken vehicles across the breadth of the state.”
Defence also relies on local expertise in metal fabrica- tion and complex welding.
While some purchasing to support regional Defence ac- tivities has recently been centralised, JLU-NQ is working to ensure local purchase of consumables and supplies. The unit retains a portion of purchase responsibilities, amount- ing to $574,000 locally last year: which LTCOL Elias rec- ognised as a ‘small drop’ in the context of Defence procure- ment spending, but nonetheless crucial for bringing the unit into contact with local organisations.
“We enjoy this opportunity and are grateful for the excel- lent support of local businesses,” LTCOL Elias said.
M113S FOR UKRAINE
Amongst examples of the unit’s cooperation with local in- dustry, LTCOL Elias described how JLU-NQ stepped in to assist another logistics unit in South Queensland, which
was tasked with coordinating the receipt of equipment heading to Ukraine.
“A couple of months ago, we received notice that the government was seeking to send a number of M113 armoured person- nel carriers from 3 Brigade to Ukraine,” LTCOL Elias said. “Once the vehicles were identified, they needed to be painted a plain old green rather than in Australian camou- flage colours.
“THERE IS INCREASED STRATEGIC INTEREST RETURNING TO TOWNSVILLE”
“We also knew that Joint Logistics Unit – South Queensland (JLU-SQ), who were coordinating the receipt of equipment from across Australia for ship- ment to Ukraine, were suffering the effects of recent flooding and a surge of work from a number of opera-
tional taskings.
“So on short notice we were able to engage DC Services
[a local Townsville vehicle service provider] to paint the armoured personnel carriers and reduce the workload on JLU-SQ. This was a great example of how we work with local industry and use their services to support broader Defence efforts both in Australia and overseas, that we couldn’t achieve on our own.”