The Morrison Government has announced a $1B investment package to accelerate Australia’s defence initiatives in the COVID-19 recovery and support thousands of jobs across the country.
The package will be allocated for nationwide projects and jobs across the country including accelerating important ADF capability development projects, targeting key manufacturing, construction and high-tech sectors, as well as accelerating the sustainment of ADF platforms and capabilities, including the upgrade of Bushmaster protected mobility vehicles, modernisation of ADF uniforms, and additional C-27J maintenance, which will engage ex-Qantas and Virgin technicians.
The funding will also go to increasing the employment of ADF Reservists who have lost their civilian income, increasing employment opportunities for current and former ADF personnel and their families, and various infrastructure projects all over the country.
Prime Minister Scott Morrison said the package is estimated to support around 4,000 jobs across Australia and help many small and medium sized businesses in the defence-industry supply chain.
“Like much of the economy, our local defence industry is doing it tough because of COVID-19. This is especially so for small and medium sized businesses, that are critical to jobs,” Prime Minister Morrison said.
“Supporting our defence industry is all part of our JobMaker plan – especially high-paying, high-skilled jobs that ensure we are supporting a robust, resilient and internationally competitive defence industry. We want to build our sovereign industrial capabilities and Australian workforce to keep our people safe.”
“We will also support our ADF members and families, particularly any Reservists who are doing it tough because of COVID-19.”
Minister for Defence Industry Melissa Price said the government wants to ensure defence industry continues to provide vital supply chains to develop and maintain defence capabilities, as it looks at opportunities to accelerate projects across Australia.
“These projects will support and grow the 70,000-strong workforce in defence industry supply chains and those benefiting from our investment in defence,” Minister Price said.
“We are committed to supporting small and medium sized enterprises across Australian defence industry, with programs that will support regional areas, including bushfire affected communities.”
