The federal defence minister says Tasmania needs to follow in the footsteps of South Australia and create a whole-state approach to winning defence contracts.
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Touring the Australian Maritime College in Launceston on Wednesday, Christopher Pyne said South Australia had developed itself into a “defence hub” and Tasmania should look to do the same.
“The defence industry in Tasmania is very diffuse, it’s made up largely of small and medium enterprises spread right across the state,” he said.
“What [Tasmania] needs is to coordinate that capability into something that can be sold as an entire package.”
A series of industry briefings for business interested in the naval shipbuilding program have been held across regional Australia. Mr Pyne officially opened the Launceston briefing during his visit on Wednesday.
However, Launceston was only added to the agenda after “successful” briefings across the country in March.
Mr Pyne’s visit follows his announcement that a Maritime Technical College would be established in South Australia.
The news caused concern among the Launceston community, with fears about the role the AMC would play in the new national defence model.
However the minister assured the future of AMC was still strong and the new college would complement the existing institution, describing it as “one of the best maritime colleges in the world”.
The federal government will invest an initial $25 million into the Adelaide college, which is expected to “work in partnership” with AMC.
“Launceston has a proud maritime history and is a renowned maritime hub and I look forward to seeing local industry participate in the Future Frigate project,” Mr Pyne said.
“Defence has a strong association with the Australian Maritime College in Launceston [and] the new Naval Shipbuilding College will complement, rather than compete with, existing institutions like the AMC.”
Mr Pyne said the Tasmanian economy could receive a significant boost from the record $195 billion defence spend but when questioned on exactly how much, he said it was an “impossible question to answer”.
...the new Naval Shipbuilding College will complement, rather than compete with, existing institutions like the AMC
- Federal Defence Minister Christopher Pyne