Opening of Boeing Assembly and Test Facility, Wacol Brisbane

Doorstop, Brisbane - 28 October 2019
 

MELISSA PRICE:

Okay. Good afternoon. It’s great to be here at Boeing’s new facilities here out at Wacol. The Federal Government’s investing $200 billion in our defence capability. But what we're seeing here today is a good example of that $200 billion doesn't just get us submarines and military vehicles; what it actually allows us to do is to support small Australian businesses who then create more jobs and we heard from at least one of the fabulous defence industry contractors here today that they’ve now got 20 new apprentices and that is a good news story when it comes to supporting the growth of our defence industry.

Well done to Boeing. They were able to secure over a $700 million contract with the Federal Government to devise a new communications system that in the theatre of war, the headquarters will be able to communicate in a much more agile modern way back to the battlefield. I'm here with Scott from Boeing and I invite him to come and say a few words about just how significant these new facilities are. Thanks, Scott.

SCOTT CARPENDALE:       

Thank you, Minister. These facilities give us the ability to support the Australian Defence Force better; make sure that the capability that we’re contracted to deliver gets into the hands of our war fighters more quickly and to greater standards. Whilst there's a short term benefit certainly on our existing programs, we see these facilities having a long term benefit for Australian industry to both to be able to iterate their products and to make their products competitive on a global scale. Thank you.

MELISSA PRICE:

Thank you, Scott. Any questions? 

JOURNALIST:

[Inaudible]

MELISSA PRICE:

Oh absolutely. We were talking to the people from Boeing today once they’ve completed the Project Currawong, there are other opportunities out there. I mean you don't build these facilities just for one project and we're seeing that right across the country whether it's Rheinmetall also here in Queensland but also the likes of Lurssen out in Western Australia out at Henderson, they’re all building significant facilities like this. It has to be for also other export opportunities.

JOURNALIST:

Minister what is this facility going to mean for our troops on the ground?

MELISSA PRICE:

On the ground? It means that they will have a more agile and also secure means of communicating back to headquarters. At the end of the day, we've heard that, you know, once we used to have carrier pigeons, you know, the world has moved on significantly and what we've heard today from the four contractors that have got contracts with Boeing is that they're a part of this new way of communicating; the modern way and the world changes on a weekly basis and I think this is what we're so excited about, that these are eventually, more and more opportunities for Australian defence industry.

JOURNALIST:

[Inaudible]

MELISSA PRICE:

What I do know is that I've just had a visit to the UK and also to the US. Everyone is talking about how capable Australian defence industry businesses are whether that's to do with the quality of the material in a sleeping bag or high-tech communication like what we’re seeing here today across the board – you know, people are surprised at just how capable Australian industry is and also just what the opportunities are.

And as the Minister for Defence Industry, I’m immensely proud of just what Australian companies are doing and you know that old Aussie have-a-go, well we're saying it really as a fabulous example with defence industry.

JOURNALIST:

In terms of cyber-attacks, you touched on that earlier in your speech, what sort of threat is that [indistinct]?

MELISSA PRICE:

Well it's you know, it exists here today and what we do know here with this facility – and I don’t know Scott, whether you got more to add to that -  but what we do know is that the equipment, the gear, that's being produced, being assembled here – and we heard over 200 Australian contractors are involved in this contract, you know, they'll be a part of ensuring that we have that safe network, flexible network that will be able to deal with all of the threats across the board.

JOURNALIST:

You mentioned Rheinmetall down the road… [inaudible] …it’s really becoming something of a defence hub isn’t it?

MELISSA PRICE:

Absolutely. This is a fabulous story for Queensland small businesses. But what we know between Rheinmetall and Boeing, not only is this a fabulous story for Brisbane, but only a few weeks ago, we announced 11 more contracts for people who have now got contracts with Rheinmetall, those contracts are right across the country, from Perth through to out in Burnie in Tasmania. But there’s no doubt that the Queensland small businesses, defence industries are going to benefit immensely from these facilities being built here together with Rheinmetall.

JOURNALIST:

Can I just have a clarification from Scott, if I may. Scott, are there any ITAR issues at all possible in the potential export of Currawong?

SCOTT CARPENDALE:       

So Currawong has been designed for the Australian standards to meet the best of the Australian requirements. As we continue to evolve our capability, we’re using local suppliers, which gives us opportunities to use non-ITAR encumbered parts of our system. We’ll continue to work with foreign governments around what opportunities there are to export this great capability to foreign customers.

JOURNALIST:

So you’re saying there are no ITAR issues?

SCOTT CARPENDALE:       

I’m saying the capability that we’ve got here, when it’s developed by an Australian business, is not ITAR encumbered.

MELISSA PRICE:

It’s only if it’s export…

JOURNALIST:

So is there interest in the US to buy this capability?

SCOTT CARPENDALE:       

Certainly there is capability that is part of the Currawong System that has a really prominent place in the business cycle for the US and UK customers to use a similar capability. What Australia has done in investing in Project Currawong has actually taken the leading edge of world-class army data space communications.

JOURNALIST:

Can I ask a simple question? Why hasn’t someone else come up this idea?

SCOTT CARPENDALE:       

The idea for this opportunity or…

JOURNALIST:

[Inaudible]

SCOTT CARPENDALE:       

So a lot of customers around the world are looking to evolve their existing communications systems with programs like this. The way in which we have developed this capability and the agile methodology to ensure that as threats change and as the capability and technology increases, we can get the fastest path from new technology into our customers’ hands is what’s unique about Currawong. But all armies, all defence forces around the world continue to evolve their communication programs.

JOURNALIST:

Scott, sorry, I think we’ve got a couple of questions for you. It’s been referred to as that the internet of the battlefield - I guess what do you mean by that?

SCOTT CARPENDALE:       

So what it does is it allows people to communicate, it allows people to communicate and receive satellite communications and other forms of communications both within the battlespace and back to headquarters. And communication is essentially how we allow the Currawong Program to give our soldiers an advantage.

JOURNALIST:

I understand phase one has already been rolled out or at least…

SCOTT CARPENDALE:       

[Talks over] Release One, yep.

JOURNALIST:

So Release One. So I guess what’s being done here now, what’s the difference between Release One and what are we going to see in Release Two?

SCOTT CARPENDALE:       
So Release Two and Release Three are future releases of hardware. This facility allows us to test that hardware, test the integration of that hardware with software so by the time it gets rolled out to the Australian Army, they’ve got capability that meets the latest Australian Defence standards, but also is proven to be reliable and able to meet customers’ needs.

JOURNALIST:

Does that practically mean it’s going to be more vehicles, more- that sort of thing?

SCOTT CARPENDALE:       

Certainly, integration with vehicles and other parts of the Australian Army’s fleet is part of what this facility will do. We have some vehicles here today we’re integrating. But as we’re testing all elements of the communications system that forms part of that capability, we’ll be developing and testing both components here in this facility.

JOURNALIST:

[Inaudible]

SCOTT CARPENDALE:       

To the existing systems? Worldwide - it’s on a different scale depending on [indistinct]. All communications systems have multiple different nodes; some of them are in the system certainly. We see [indistinct], a very advanced and very cutting edge. But the same challenges are being faced by defence forces around the world, and I think that what we’ve done in terms of implementing the system quickly gives us a competitive advantage.

MELISSA PRICE:

Okay, thanks very much, everyone.

[ENDS]