Page 66 - Australian Defence Magazine July-August 2022

66 FROM THE SOURCE MATTHEW THEOHARUS CONTINUED FROM PAGE 64
Campbell Barracks Redevelopment project, the business has doubled its workforce, moving from operating in a tier 2 subcontractor market to tier 1 market, partnering with not only Lendlease but other tier 1 contractors on major infrastructure projects.
ADM: What opportunities are you looking towards in the short to medium term?
THEOHAROUS: We always look to partner with Defence on opportunities where we can bring our full capability to the fore and deliver the most value.
JULY-AUGUST 2022 | WWW.AUSTRALIANDEFENCE.COM.AU
Late last year, more than 200 students from the Kather- ine and Big Rivers regions took part in the event, which was held at the RAAF Base Tindal, Northern Territory.
That expo was very successful, offering students a practi- cal and effective way to be introduced to a career that they may not have previously considered.
We’ve also established an MoU with local schools to en- courage participation and training opportunities.
ADM: Has Lendlease set long-term goals for the defence arm of the business?
THEOHAROUS: The sheer scale and scope of the defence work requires us to take a long term and strategic view of where we can best partner with Defence. This means con- stantly evolving our business so we can respond and deliver innovative and exceptional project outcomes for Defence and, importantly, the community.
While we have successfully delivered many design and construction projects, we believe that public private partner- ship (PPPs) can help deliver defence infrastructure more ef- ficiently, making best use of the available skills in the public and private sectors, while providing increased opportunities to engage local small to medium enterprises and the community.
ADM: What are the challenges of ‘hardening’ a defence base in the modern threat environment?
THEOHAROUS: Creating safe and secure Defence infra- structure is vital. In the first instance, any approach needs be made from a people perspective – the safety of Defence personnel is always the highest priority. This is closely fol- lowed by a focus on cyber and infrastructure security.
Continuous advances in technology globally means we also need to be continuously investigating ways to keep ahead of the curve, and we work very closely with Defence on this. While much of this is highly sensitive and confidential, there is obvi- ously continued investment in our IT systems, our adoption of the latest in technology and the ongoing education and raising of awareness across our projects and industry of cyber threats. ■
ABOVE: Osborne South Naval Shipyard Development, SA
LEFT: Lendlease Australia CEO Dale Connor, with Transition To Work program participants
“IN THE FIRST INSTANCE, ANY APPROACH NEEDS BE MADE FROM A PEOPLE PERSPECTIVE – THE SAFETY OF DEFENCE PERSONNEL IS ALWAYS THE HIGHEST PRIORITY”
Based on the complexity and scale of upcoming opportunities, we’ll look to leverage our experience on existing Defence bases nationally – where we have inherent knowledge, experience and the understanding required to de- liver the best project and community outcomes.
ADM: What effects have major gov- ernment civil infrastructure works had on your Defence projects, par- ticularly in recruiting?
THEOHAROUS: We established a special- ist defence team almost 10 years ago. As a result, our team has the expertise and deep knowledge required, as well as a loyalty and passion for delivering defence projects. This culture has been critical in building and maintaining our in-
house defence capability.
In the current climate, a key challenge for us is to ensure
that our supply chain maintains the same passion and com- mitment to delivering defence projects. We see our role as supporting and providing awareness and training required for the industry to be job ready.
One way we do this in regional locations is through in- dustry days, such as Try A Trade Day, that allows for school aged students to try their hand at different trades.