Television Interview, Sky Newsday

SUBJECTS: Counter-drone investment; National Defence Strategy

KIERAN GILBERT, HOST: Let's return now to focus on our defence, our national defence. Last week, we saw the Defence Minister and Acting Prime Minister with the overall strategic update. The one thing that wasn't included in substance was the counter-drone technology or counter-drone investment. A lot on missiles and drone expenditure. Today, we got the detail on the counter-drone investment – $7 billion over 10 years, including a significant investment in Australian-made counter-drone technology. I spoke to the Defence Industry Minister, Pat Conroy a short time ago.

PAT CONROY, MINISTER FOR DEFENCE INDUSTRY: It's great Aussie know-how. We truly do lead the world in some of these technologies and the Australian Government is funding them into service right now. Just think about it for a moment – an Australian company, AIM, has produced a Fractl system that fires a laser to hit a 10 cent piece going 100 kilometres an hour. Or SYPAQ Systems that's developing quadcopter drones with a warhead to take out drones trying to attack our forces. This is all about protecting the Australian Defence Force, and that's why we've announced we’re more than doubling the funding for drone defences to $7 billion as part of the National Defence Strategy. So, it'll make the ADF safer, but it'll also grow more Aussie jobs… leading the world in technologies that I thought just existed in Star Wars a few years ago.

GILBERT: Yeah, well, we've seen the images of this technology operating. You can't even see the sort of laser between the counter-drone and the drone itself, it is impressive. I'm wondering, that $7 billion, how many years is that across? And do you see this as a growing piece of the pie in terms of our military capability that we're going to have to – you said it's more than double the 2024 number. Is that going to have to grow further and further into the future because this is where the modern risk is?

CONROY: I think it's likely. It's one part of modern warfare. It's not the only part. But that $7 billion is over 10 years – more than doubling – and is part of our $22 billion investment in drones, autonomous systems and counter-drone defences. But the National Defence Strategy that was released last week has a significant increase in investment across the board. It's $117 billion over the 10 years, more than what we inherited under the Coalition. $30 billion over the next four years. So, we've got more than doubling drone defences, doubling missile defence, increasing drone investment by 50%. More than doubling investment in guided weapons, so, making missiles in this country. These are critical – but also it's critical to get the right systems. So, what we're seeing in the Middle East is $3 million missiles being fired to hit a $100,000 drone. These systems will cost in the tens of thousands. So, we’ll spend $10,000 hypothetically to destroy a $100,000 drone. So, that's the cost benefit ratio you want to be in in these systems.

GILBERT: Yeah, and fundamentally, you know, heaven forbid we'll ever need them and you know, please God, we won't ever need them. But it is good to have that sovereign capability onshore if needed, if called upon.

CONROY: Oh absolutely. The only way to avoid being at the end of the queue is to make these things in Australia, and that's what we're doing through our defence future made in Australia. More than 100,000 Australians work in the defence industry. It grew by 14% over a two-year period and you can expect more growth into the future. I wish it wasn't so. I wish we didn't face the troubled world that we do. But we do – and that's why we have to equip the Australian Defence Force with these modern systems and to make them in this country so that we get the economic dividend and the sovereignty and self-reliance that Australians clearly want us to have.

GILBERT: So, we know the Ghost Sharks and the Ghost Bats – you and I have discussed these, our viewers are well aware of the larger autonomous vehicles that the Government is investing in… that Australians have been a big part in developing that tech. This is different though, isn't it? This is the counter-drone capacity to knock out the sort of mass swarming drone that sadly we've become used to seeing in the last couple of years?

CONROY: Absolutely. It is to knock out mass swarming drones. So, you think the small quadcopters but also larger drones like the Shahed that's being used in the Middle East and Ukraine right now that Iran makes. This is designed to take care of those sized drones as well. Importantly, we're building small drones in this country right now. At the same facility that I'm at today, I announced $100 million worth of contracts two years ago to equip the Australian Defence Force with small drones – and they're finishing the final deliveries of that right now. And we've equipped the Australian Army with loitering munition drones as well. So, we are investing in those small capabilities as well as the larger ones.

GILBERT: I know you've got to get to the airport. Before you go, Ed Husic, the former Industry Minister is the Chair of the House Economics Committee. He's saying that it would be a missed opportunity if the Budget doesn't deliver a new 25% tax on gas exports. What's your view on that? Is that something your voters, constituents are arguing for?

CONROY: Well, Ed's entitled to his views. As a backbench MP, he has the ability to express his view on policy topics. I'm a member of the Albanese Cabinet and I will leave Budget announcements to the Treasurer on the second Tuesday in May. That's the right approach for a Cabinet Minister – and that's my position, Kieran.

GILBERT: Defence Industry Minister Pat Conroy – thanks. Talk to you soon.

CONROY: Thanks, Kieran.

ENDS