Page 40 - Australian Defence Magazine May-June 2020

40 DEFENCE BUSINESS VIEW FROM CANBERRA
MAY/JUNE 2020 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
CAN WE DO IT? POSSIBLY, MAYBE. EVENTUALLY.
In February, Naval Group Australia chief executive John Davis talked to the Australian newspaper and made a not unreasonable statement that was interpreted as saying Australian companies weren’t up to the job and that more submarine work would need to be performed by French firms.
A SPECIAL CORRESPONDENT | CANBERRA
THAT touched a very raw nerve, especially for a project as politically laden as new submarines.
After all, if the government is spending enormous sums of taxpayer funds on new equipment. as much as possible should be spent in Australia. Creating jobs, skills and in- dustry capability which generates future wealth and gov- ernment revenue which in turn funds schools, hospitals ....and so on forever.
Money spent abroad acquires advanced defence capability, but without the visible benefit of a defence dollar spent at Fred Smith’s foundry in Outer Barcoo.
Witness the maelstrom which erupts whenever defence ad- mits buying stuff overseas which the critics reckon should be
done here. Example: Chinese-made Defence dress uniforms (despite the fact that no ‘Australian’ bids were submitted).
This applies as much to new armoured vehicles and other defence kit as it does to warships, though warships are the headline item of the moment, with expenditure of billions over decades to create a new industry where once we made Holdens and Fords.
It’s generally accepted that Australian manufacture will incur a cost premium, higher at the start but reduc- ing with time.
Then there’s Australian industry content – 100 per cent would be nice but is rarely attainable because some equip- ment just has to come from abroad.
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