Doorstop, Perth

SUBJECTS: Indian Ocean Defence & Security Conference; Defence industry in WA; Middle East Conflict; National Defence Strategy 2026; Foreign Fighters' Families; Katherine Bennell-Pegg; AUKUS

PAUL PAPALIA, WA MINISTER FOR DEFENCE INDUSTRIES: Thanks very much for coming along. Look, we're here this morning with the Deputy Prime Minister of Australia, and we're very grateful that Richard Marles has come to IODS, as he always does, and has supported what has become an extremely important event on the national calendar for defence industry and defence strategy. We are carving out a position for IODS that ensures it is a must-attend for people right around the region, but also further afield in the United States and the United Kingdom. People are coming to this event knowing that significant discussions will be had, and they will learn about where Australia is going, and particularly with respect to the Indian Ocean and our Asian neighbours. I can tell you that IODS is on track to double in size from last time we had it. It's every two years. It is on track to have twice as many people attending as the last time we held it. Also, the exhibitors on the floor, the industries that are demonstrating their wares to the world, are given a platform to show what they can do to the world. They have increased by 50% from the last event. I'll let the Deputy Prime Minister say a few things, but then we'll come back and answer questions.

RICHARD MARLES, DEPUTY PRIME MINISTER: Great to be here with Paul Papalia, State Minister for Defence Industry, and I really commend Paul on his advocacy for defence industry in this state. We've been working very closely together over the last four years, and that's been really important in terms of the developments that we put in place here in Western Australia, and as we've said on numerous occasions, defence industry is on track to provide for 10,000 new jobs in Western Australia, which really means it is the biggest diversification of the Western Australian economy that we have seen in a very long period of time. In relation to IODS, I've been coming back to this now on a number of occasions, and every time it continues to grow, as Paul has just outlined, which is a reflection of the geostrategic significance of this spot of Perth, here on the Indian Ocean. I mean, we are really on the fulcrum of the Indo-Pacific right here. It is, of course, why so much of the Australian Defence Force footprint is here in Western Australia, Fleet Base West being an obvious example, but Campbell Barracks and others, and I could go on. But the importance of this part of the nation, of this part of the continent, to the defence of Australia is absolutely essential, and that is why I think IODS has gone from strength to strength. In terms of the work that AMDA does in putting on the various conferences that it does, this is the one which has a geography to it, which is about a specific part of Australia, and again it speaks to how important Perth and Western Australia are to Australia's geostrategic environment, but to the nation's defence. With that, really happy to take questions.

JOURNALIST: Will you be helping fund the weapons manufacturing hub in WA that was announced yesterday with state government?

MARLES: Well, we will talk with the West Australian Government, as we talk with all governments, all state governments, about their plans in relation to defence industry, but as I said in the conference itself, we really welcome this initiative on the part of the Western Australian Government. I mentioned a figure of 10,000 jobs. What Western Australia is doing will be in addition to that, and actually it helps build the defence industry ecosystem for WA, which will help support the other work that we are doing at Stirling, in the building of the Mogami class vessels, in the sustainment of our future nuclear submarines. It is a really significant initiative, and we very much welcome it. 

JOURNALIST: There are significant concerns about slippage on the Henderson Defence Precinct. What plans have you got in case that does continue to slip, and what milestones [indistinct]?

MARLES: We are really confident about the progress of Henderson. So, let me go into that in a little bit of detail. Henderson is an incredible asset for the state. It's an incredible asset for the country. It needs a commitment of funding, which is what our government did last year in committing $12 billion to what we anticipate is a $25 billion project in developing the Henderson Defence Precinct. It is complicated by virtue of the number of private stakeholders along the Henderson strip. That's different to Osborne, where the Osborne Naval Shipyard is entirely owned by government, and so there is work that has to be done with those stakeholders. You can't do anything other than that, but the most important stakeholder we have is the Western Australian Government, and we have been hand in glove, cooperating with WA in relation to the development of Henderson, and I could not be more thankful for the partnership with Roger Cook, with Paul, in respect of all of that. In terms of timeframes and milestones, the most important that we need to meet in the immediate term is the Army's landing craft, that is to see Landing Craft Heavy and Landing Craft Medium commence construction this year. That will happen. We have made the decisions which enable us to have the space to do that work. The plans are completely crystallised for that part of the work, and that is an incredibly important piece of the puzzle.

JOURNALIST: [indistinct]

MARLES: Yes, and this is the first step in terms of –

JOURNALIST: [indistinct]

MARLES: Let me rephrase that. The next step in terms of the evolution of continuous naval shipbuilding here at Henderson, and that will see the first of the Landing Craft Medium delivered to government within a couple of years. The Landing Craft Heavy by 2030 — first milestone. Beyond that, we need to then be in a place where we are able to commence construction on the general purpose frigates in the early 2030s. We need to be in a position to have a contingency dock capability for the sustainment of our future submarines, but also those of the United States and the UK, again by the early 2030s, and looking further down the path, the dry docks need to be in place by the end of the 2030s. Now, we are confident that timeframe is being met. Jess asked me a good question about, you know, is there a potential or the dominant effect here? Precisely because of that, we are making sure that each of those milestones in the immediate term is being met, so that does not occur, and that's why we put a lot of work into ensuring that Landing Craft Heavy is happening in the schedule that I've just described. We need to have the funding secured. That's what this government has done. The announcement we did last year was a key part of that. We need to have a tight relationship with the West Australian Government. It could not be tighter, and we are very grateful for that. We are working through with the private stakeholders around their issues going forward. Henderson is happening.

JOURNALIST: [indistinct] weapons or missile manufacturing. What sort of permits and approvals would it need from the federal government, and can they count on your support with those?

MARLES: Well, what the Western Australian Government can absolutely count on is a federal government which is going to be completely supportive of it developing further a defence industrial base here in Western Australia. Now, we have a regime in respect of a range of permits that are required in respect of defence industry, which, given what we're talking about, is important, and we'll work through all of those issues with the state government, but fundamentally, Western Australia knows that in the Albanese Labor Government, they've got a government which is going to be leaning forward in terms of building WA's defence industry.

JOURNALIST: Do you see WA as an appropriate location for that sort of defence manufacturing?

RICHARD MARLES: WA is a profoundly important location for defence industry, and I mean, in terms of what the West Australian Government is articulating, because it augments what we need to do here, I mean, what we need to do here in terms of submarine rotational force west, based at HMAS Stirling, the building of continuous naval shipbuilding in WA, and the general purpose frigates, specifically, but, you know, Army's landing craft, and the other platforms that we've articulated, and importantly, the future sustainment of our future submarines, all of that requires massive defence industry, and so to be helping build an ecosystem which contributes to that is obviously really good from the federal political perspective.

JOURNALIST: Minister, we've seen, obviously, fresh US strikes on the south of Iran. This comes not long after we heard from Donald Trump that the deal was apparently largely negotiated. What's the Australian Government's assessment of this situation right now? And are you concerned about a ceasefire by [indistinct]?

MARLES: Well, I think what I would say in relation to that is that we have for some time now been arguing for a de-escalation of events in the Middle East. We therefore welcomed the ceasefire when it came along. We obviously want to see the ceasefire continue. I was in the Middle East the weekend before last. Our strategic partners there, countries like the UAE, like Jordan, but the other countries of the Gulf — I mean, for them it is profoundly important that we see an achievement of stability and an achievement of peace, and so that's what we continue to urge. In saying that, it is absolutely clear that what we need to have is the Strait of Hormuz open, and we need to see a restoration of the global fuel supply chain, but freedom of navigation in this critical body of water.

JOURNALIST: Minister Papalia has you have previously called for an expanded permanent defence presence in the north of WA. Do you agree that the large northwest coast is currently in under manned and exposed?

MARLES: Well, we have placed an emphasis on our northern bases in the National Defence Strategy that we announced a month ago, but in fact the importance of our northern bases was really articulated in the Defence Strategic Review, which was released in 2023.

JOURNALIST: [indistinct]

MARLES: Well, in the National Defence Strategy that we released last month, I stand to be corrected, the allocation, I think, is $13 to $16 billion for our northern bases over the coming decade. That would include, for example, Learmonth, which is Exmouth, it would include Curtin, which is at Derby. Am I saying it right? Thank you. Good. So, you know, these are really important bases in terms of our defence posture, and that's because we need to have more capable northern bases, which are able to, particularly in this instance, protect our Air Force, and so the northwest of Western Australia is a critical place in terms of Australia's defence posture.

JOURNALIST: Just back to Stephen's question, how is bombing Iran consistent with de-escalation, and given that it isn't, do you think that American allies are being fleeced here, and that Donald Trump doesn't have on that?

MARLES: Well, in terms of the question that you've asked, there is an articulation from the United States in respect of that, and I would really leave it to them to articulate what they've done in the context of maintaining the ceasefire, but I would observe that the United States right now is speaking in terms of wanting to continue the ceasefire, and that is something that we will.

JOURNALIST: The chairman of Austal this morning, former US Secretary of the Navy, said the one thing he can't see from the federal or state governments in Australia is the slightest sense of urgency. What's your response to the fact that he is sort of essentially questioning whether you've got a pulse?

MARLES: Whether we have a?

JOURNALIST: Pulse or not, Minister?

MARLES: You hear various comments along the road in respect of this. When we came to government, we inherited a set of strategic settings which dated back to the 1980s at the height of the Cold War, which were fundamentally out of date. In the last four years, we have done the single biggest reassessment of Australia's strategic posture since the Dibb Review in 1985/86. It has called for a significant increase in Defence capability based on the most complex strategic environment that we have faced since the end of the Second World War. We understand that, and with urgency we have meant that. Since then, we have injected an additional $117 billion into the planning decade, with an additional $30 billion over the forward estimates. So all of that is in the budget, all of it's in the budget. That compares during the nine years of the former Coalition government to an increase of just $10 billion over the planning decade. In four years, we have done 12 times as much as what the former Coalition government did in nine, and they faced much of the same strategic landscape that we face today. Now, I would say that that evidences urgency. I mean, public money for defence is not won in these forums, it's not won in the public commentary, it's won around the budget table, and we've been winning it, and what you have from the Albanese Government is an absolute demonstration of commitment, because what this represents is the biggest peacetime increase in Australia's defence spending in our nation's history. No ifs, no buts, and so we actually stand by that record and ask that question.

JOURNALIST: A group of women and children arrived in Australia, returning from Syria with links to Islamic State. There were no arrests made. Does the government anticipate that will change, and what's being done to keep the community safe?

MARLES: Well, the last thing I'll do is comment on specific cases. I obviously shouldn't do that. I make a couple of points here. One, there has been no assistance, no assistance provided by the government in relation to any of those returning from that part of the world. Secondly, there is absolutely no sympathy whatsoever for people who made their own decisions to go and participate in that conflict. That is a decision which should be condemned, and we've been doing that. And finally, we have security agencies which monitor these situations very closely, and we have complete faith in them in terms of keeping Australia safe.

JOURNALIST: Katherine Bennell-Pegg just walked behind you. Does the Commonwealth need to front up the money to get her into space? Would that be money well spent?

MARLES: Well, Katherine Bennell-Pegg, firstly, is a fantastic Australian of the Year, and I certainly couldn't be more excited to see her in that position. I actually first met her at the last Avalon Air Show, and, you know, so as a kind of self-confessed space nerd, for me she is a rock star. I mean, obviously we want to see every opportunity be availed to her. This is something that we will continue to work on. It is a work in progress.

JOURNALIST: [indistinct]

MARLES: Well, as I say, it is an issue that we continue to work through, but what Katherine Bennell-Pegg has achieved is hugely significant, and we want to see whatever opportunities are out there to come to fruition, but we continue to work this through.

JOURNALIST: You have been through an exhibition where there's been a lot of drones, a lot of uncrewed vessels. Do you concede that Australia has to massively invest in that area just in case the AUKUS subs never arrive?

MARLES: Well, AUKUS is happening, to just answer that part, and this probably is the last question. AUKUS is happening, and I'm really confident that we will see the Virginia class submarine first come in the early 2030s, and the remainder come on the timeframe that's been agreed. We are confident about what's happening in terms of the US industrial base and sustainment base, such that there are the sea days being developed for the US Navy, in terms of its Virginia class submarine fleet, to give it the room to see the first of those and the remainder provided to Australia. In terms of the construction of our own future nuclear-powered submarines, again that is on track in respect of what's happening out at the Osborne Naval Shipyard. But in relation to drones, so really I think it's a separate question. I mean, that is the big finding, I think, of the National Defence Strategy and the refresh of the Integrated Investment Program, that drones loom much larger today than they did two years ago in terms of how war is conducted, and so we've invested heavily in the Integrated Investment Program in relation to the acquisition of autonomous platforms and drones, and that's across the spectrum of drones, meaning spectrum of size. But if you look at what we're doing with Ghost Bat, what we're doing with Ghost Shark, Australia right now is really the world's leader in terms of the development of the large-scale autonomous platforms that both of those represent, and it says a lot about, I guess, our circumstances, our strategic circumstances, but it also says a lot about the commitment that the Albanese Government is putting into this. Thank you.

ENDS