Office of the

Minister for Defence

MEDIA RELEASE

Wednesday, 3 June 1998

DEFENCE REFORMS STREAMLINE ACQUISITION

The Minister for Defence, Mr Ian McLachlan, last night reaffirmed his commitment to the Defence Reform Program and foreshadowed further reforms to the Defence Acquisition Program.

Addressing the Defence Procurement '98 conference in Canberra, Mr McLachlan described the Acquisition Program as a leader in handling a range of highly complex projects.

"The changes proposed by the Defence Reform Program are having a major impact on how we currently manage acquisitions," he said.

Mr McLachlan said further changes would be made to speed up the equipment acquisition process from concept development to introduction into service to keep step with the pace of technological change.

"I do have a concern, which is shared by many people, that the process of acquiring new equipment is simply taking too long," he said.

While the Government would continue to drive the Reform Program, a close dialogue with industry was essential as reforms were extended into other areas of defence activity.

"This means increased opportunities for Australian industry and an increased responsibility to assist in the creation of a sustainable defence capability."

The 1998-99 Defence Budget of almost $11 billion will have a big impact in many regions around Australia.

In South Australia, Defence spending contributes about 2.3% of Gross State Product, or $770 million a year and is directly responsible for almost 15,600 jobs, about the same as the car assembly plants of Mitsubishi and GMH.

The Army Presence in the North project has made Defence one of the Northern Territory's four largest industries and makes a huge contribution to regional centres, such as Katherine.

In the Hunter region, Defence is the largest employer, as a result of the $850m Lead-in-Fighter project, plus the naval shipbuilding activities of ADI Ltd and Forgacs.

Mr McLachlan said the Reform Program would achieve one-off savings of $500m in facilities rationalisation and eventually redirect more than $900m worth of resources annually, helping to refocus the Australian Defence Force on combat capability.
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Media Contact - Jim Bonner - 0419 438 490