THE HON. GREG COMBET AM MP
Minister for Defence Materiel and Science
Friday, 25 June 2010
078/2010
Helping Australian Defence businesses
win work from the world
Greg Combet, the Minister for Defence Materiel and Science, announced today
significant programs worth over $100 million to help Australian Defence Businesses
win work in the global defence market.
Mr Combet said that three key policies will assist local businesses to access and win
work from the global defence market. They are the:
•
Global Supply Chains Program
•
Defence Export Unit
•
New Air Combat Capability Industry Support Program
“The Global Supply Chains (GSC) Program will create opportunities for Australian
industry in the global supply chains of overseas defence prime contractors and their
major subcontractors,” said Mr Combet.
“Under the GSC program, primes develop company-specific programs to evaluate
Australian suppliers for participation in their global supply chain.
“Given the lucrative opportunities available in these global supply chains,
encouraging exports is a crucial element of the Government’s defence industry
policy.
“As outlined in the Industry Policy Statement, the Government has committed almost
$60 million over ten years to the GSC Program.
“The Government, shortly after it came to power, also launched the Defence Export
Unit in order to boost defence industry exports and advance important industry
capabilities required for the ADF.
“The DEU has been a great success and has helped Australian companies so far win
contracts in excess of $550 million. That is why in this Statement the Government is
provided funding of $34 million out to 2019 for this Unit.
“The Government has also established the New Air Combat Capability Industry
Support Program, which will provide funding to Australian companies and research
organisations to support the development of new or improved capabilities that may
enhance winning work in the production, sustainment and follow-on development
phases of the Joint Strike Fighter Program.
“These programs are necessary given the changing structure of the defence industry.
“There has been significant consolidation and globalisation of the defence industry.
This consolidation has resulted in a domestic defence industry dominated by a small
number of very large defence companies, mostly headquartered in Europe and North
America.
“Australia’s defence industry policy needs to evolve to take account of this
contemporary industry structure.
“Australian-owned defence firms are generally small to medium sized enterprises
(SMEs). In turn, this presents both challenges and opportunities for Australia’s
defence industry. It is a challenge for small to medium enterprises (SMEs) that need
to accommodate major investment decisions made in Europe and North America. Yet
it is also an opportunity for Australian SMEs to make profits through integrating into
the global supply chains of international primes and their major subcontractors.
“Exports can develop and enhance industry capabilities by sharing development and
non-recurring engineering and overhead costs with other customers.
“In addition to the benefits for exporters, finding overseas customers for Australian
products and services used by the ADF helps to create economies of scale for
Defence,” Mr Combet said.
These programs form part of the Government’s Defence Industry Policy – titled
Building Defence Capability: A policy for a smarter and more agile defence industry
base
Full details of these programs can be found within Building Defence Capability.
Media contacts:
Rod Hilton (Greg Combet):
02 6277 7620 or 0458 276 619
Defence Media Liaison:
02 6127 1999 or 0408 498 664
NEWS 
